Amid the Breakers
by twstofate
Summary: Jericho's guilt over Stephanie's exile from WWF programming causes him to propose a plan...which will eventually take on a life of its own.
1. Default Chapter

Title: Amid the Breakers (1/?)  
  
Author: twstofate aka Hayden  
  
e-mail: twstofate@hotmail.com  
  
Category: WWF long-fic  
  
Disclaimer: All characters belong to the WWF  
  
Distribution: Please ask first  
  
Rating: PG-13 (language, some plot content)  
  
Spoilers: SmackDown 3/28/2002  
  
Summary: Jericho's guilt over Stephanie's exile causes him to propose a plan to get her back in the WWF. The plan takes on a life of its own.  
  
Chris Jericho shifted nervously from foot to foot as he waited for the door to open. He wasn't sure why he was going through with his plan. Maybe it was a pang of his conscience. A conscience he had been so sure he had buried beneath his massive ego and the gold of his belts.  
  
Not his belts. At least not anymore.  
  
Jericho pressed his finger against the doorbell for the third time, thinking that if the door wasn't answered momentarily he was going to leave and not worry about it anymore.  
  
"I'm coming," a perturbed voice called out. He saw the brunette woman coming to the door through the glass. She swung open the door.  
  
"What are you doing here?" she asked, not sure she wanted to see him at all. He really couldn't blame her.  
  
"I came to apologize for what happened on Monday," Jericho said. "He should have pinned me, not you."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Stephanie McMahon asked.  
  
"I mean, you shouldn't be gone," Jericho said. "I should have moved heaven and earth to keep him from pinning you."  
  
"You were outside the ring," Stephanie said, waving away his apology. "It was my own fault for accepting the damn match anyways."  
  
"How can you be so nonchalant?" Jericho asked, feeling suddenly confused.  
  
"Nonchalant?" Stephanie asked. "You know, it's what? Saturday? I've had a few days to adjust. Now, did you have something else you wanted to talk about or are we done?"  
  
"I was going to try to fix it," Jericho shrugged. "But obviously you don't care about what happened."  
  
"Wait a second!" Stephanie exclaimed. "What do you mean fix it?"  
  
"I think I can get you back on WWF programming," Jericho said. "But it would take a lot to do it."  
  
"Really now?" Stephanie asked, her blue eyes suddenly becoming calculated. She opened her front door wider to allow Jericho to come into her house. "Come on in to the kitchen. I'll make coffee."  
  
"Okay," Jericho said, taking in his surroundings as he walked through Stephanie's TV room to the kitchen. It was very un-Stephanie like. Of course, he didn't really know Stephanie very well. But during the month they had been business partners she always seemed to like her surroundings to be immaculate. She was almost obsessive about it. Now there were tissues all over the furniture and floor. The table in front of the TV was covered with dirty dished. There were several piles of video-tapes on the floor by the TV.  
  
"You doing okay?" Jericho asked.  
  
"Hmm?" Stephanie asked, already intent on making the coffee. "Oh yeah, I woke up this morning and realized wallowing in my misery was getting me nowhere. I still have a job after all."  
  
"You do?" Jericho asked in shock.  
  
"Yeah," Stephanie said, nodding her head towards some paperwork on the kitchen table. "I'm head accountant at Titan still. Daddy gave me my job back after Hunter dumped me so unceremoniously."  
  
"Oh," Jericho said, sitting at a barstool at the kitchen counter.  
  
"So, plan…to get me back?" Stephanie asked, leaning against the counter and looking directly into Jericho's eyes.  
  
He hated when she did that. He was always afraid she would be able to see through him. Afraid she would realize he was really very attracted to her. Had been since before even the King of the Ring kiss. And that had been nearly two years earlier.  
  
He tried to notice her hair that looked a bit dirty and greasy, definitely uncombed. He tried to notice the ratty green robe she was wearing. And the baggy pajama pants. But it wasn't working. He was still feeling very attracted to the woman standing in front of him and he was still sure she could see it.  
  
"Jericho?" Stephanie asked, her blue eyes clouding with concern. "Tell me you really have a plan."  
  
"Oh, yeah," Jericho said. "Of course."  
  
"Well?" Stephanie asked. She swore quietly as her coffee maker beeped. She turned around and poured the coffee into two mugs. "How do you like it?"  
  
"Black," Jericho said, accepting the mug from her.  
  
"Me too," Stephanie said. She sipped at the hot liquid as she waited for Jericho to explain his plan to her.  
  
"Well, I was talking to Vince," Jericho said. "And I asked if there was any way I could get someone who technically wasn't allowed in the WWF in."  
  
"I already asked," Stephanie said.  
  
"Well, you asked if you could get back alone," Jericho said. "But you didn't ask how I could help. You may not have wanted my help, but I felt compelled to look."  
  
"So?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"My wife could come to the show regardless of whether or not she was forbidden from WWF programming," Jericho said.  
  
"You're married?" Stephanie asked, not getting Jericho's point.  
  
"No," Jericho sighed.  
  
"So why does that matter?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"You could marry me and you could come back," Jericho said triumphantly.  
  
Stephanie stared at Jericho as if he had grown a third arm. "Say something," Jericho said, shifting uncomfortably.  
  
"I'm not divorced yet," Stephanie said, shaking her head.  
  
"But you will be soon," Jericho said.  
  
"I'm not about to throw myself into another marriage," Stephanie said. "And we don't even like each other!"  
  
"I like you just fine," Jericho protested. "And it's not like it would actually be a marriage. It would basically just be an extension of our partnership."  
  
"You know," Stephanie said. "Hunter said our marriage would be purely business too."  
  
"Really?" Jericho asked. "What changed?"  
  
"I don't know," Stephanie said, feeling herself drift back to nearly two years earlier. She shook her head at the memories. She didn't want to remember Hunter fondly. She hated him. "It doesn't really matter anymore."  
  
"It would be different with us Stephanie," Jericho said. "We don't even have to live together if you don't want to."  
  
"We would have to though," Stephanie said. "Flair would cry bloody murder if it looked as if our marriage was simply a business arrangement."  
  
"Why?" Jericho asked.  
  
"Because Hunter's his golden boy now," Stephanie scoffed. "What the hell happened to him? One day he's a bad ass who only cares about himself and me. Now he's some kind of wannabe Rock with all of his pleasing the fans BS."  
  
"So we make it believable," Jericho shrugged. "We can do that. I mean, I'm not dating anyone right now so I wouldn't be breaking anyone's heart. What about you?"  
  
"Breaking someone's heart?" Stephanie asked. She smiled humorlessly at the thought. "Fat chance."  
  
"Well, maybe it will hurt Hunter," Jericho offered.  
  
"Not likely," Stephanie said. "He'll probably just call me a slut."  
  
"Or there's that," Jericho agreed.  
  
"Why do you guys do that?" Stephanie asked. "I piss you guys off and you call me a slut. Why is that like the knee-jerk reaction?"  
  
"I don't know," Jericho said, shifting uneasily. "I guess it's just easy. People almost want to believe it."  
  
"It sucks you know," Stephanie said, dropping her head to examine her hands, which were curled around her coffee mug. "I've never been unfaithful to anyone."  
  
"I'm sorry," Jericho said.  
  
"It's okay," Stephanie said, shaking her head. "It's the price you pay for living the way you want to I guess."  
  
"So…are we on with this plan?" Jericho asked.  
  
"I don't know," Stephanie said. "Getting married? It's the only way?"  
  
"Basically," Jericho said. "Especially since you signed a contract when you made it a triple threat."  
  
"Oh," Stephanie said. "Well…I guess this will have to be how it all goes down then, huh?"  
  
"You don't need to make it sound like we are destroying something," Jericho said.  
  
"Aren't we?" Stephanie asked. "Aren't we going to destroy Hunter? And then who knows what?"  
  
"Is that what you want?" Jericho asked.  
  
"I don't know," Stephanie said.  
  
"Well, you can think about it and get back to me," Jericho shrugged.  
  
"No, I don't need to think," Stephanie said. "Lets do it. Lets get married."  
  
"Okay," Jericho said, nodding his head.  
  
"But don't tell Vince," Stephanie said.  
  
"Okay," Jericho said. "Can I ask why?"  
  
"Well, he didn't lift a finger to help me," Stephanie said. "If he really cared about having me around he would have sent someone to end the match in a DQ or something. I think it's time to rock Vince's world again."  
  
"Okay," Jericho said. "Whatever you say."  
  
"Hey Jericho," Stephanie said. He looked up and met her blue eyes. "Thanks." 


	2. First Comes...Marriage?

May 3rd, 2002  
  
*  
  
"Damn," Stephanie swore softly. She quickly stuck her thumb in her mouth to keep it from bleeding on the ivory silk dress she was wearing. She gingerly used her other hand to remove the pin that had caused her injury from the dress. She looked at the pin and threw it into the garbage bin in her bathroom. She took her thumb out of her mouth and examined to make sure it wasn't bleeding.  
  
She put her finger under an icy stream of water and examined her appearance in the mirror ahead of her. Her makeup was minimal for a change. Maybe it was because she just didn't really have the energy to mess with much makeup. Or maybe it was because she realized she looked fine without caking foundation on her face.  
  
Her brown hair fell in curly waves down her back. She had spent nearly two hours in a chair at the beauty salon while the stylist curled every last strand. Looking at herself she realized it had been worth the time. She looked really pretty.  
  
Her dress had a square neckline that was actually rather demure in comparison to some of the other things she wore. It had an empire waistline and it fell to her mid-calves. She knew she looked nice. And not near as whorish as she had looked when she was renewing her vows to Hunter.  
  
Stephanie closed her eyes when she thought about that night. Yes, she had lied to her husband. But she had been desperately clinging to the man who had said he loved her. It was the only reason she had ever stooped to that level. She knew how wrong it had been. She had been working hard to make the pregnancy a fact anyways.  
  
The Hunter she had fallen for never would have made her feel like she needed to lie to keep him with her. The Hunter she knew never would have made her feel like she wasn't good enough for him. But that's exactly what Hunter had done when he came back to the WWF. Sure, she wasn't the nicest person in the world. But to be perfectly honest he hadn't been particularly pleasant before January.  
  
He was the one who had changed, not her. So why was she the one who was made to feel like she had all of a sudden become some outrageous bitch. She was only what he had made her.  
  
It didn't matter anymore. Their marriage was officially over. It had been officially over two weeks earlier. On the day she had received her notification as well as a wire transfer to her bank account, she had gone out and bought the dress she was now wearing. It was only fitting that Hunter's money buy her next wedding dress.  
  
She surveyed herself one more time and nodded to herself before walking out of her bedroom and heading downstairs.  
  
Chris Jericho looked up as he heard footsteps from above. His breath caught when he saw Stephanie standing up at the top of the stairs. She looked gorgeous. Her dress was simple, but very elegant. She looked different, but it was Stephanie all the same.  
  
He had noticed since he had first proposed marriage to her that she had changed. It was like she had grown up and realized she couldn't be a spoiled little girl the rest of her life. There was still that stubborn streak that he liked in her. But she was a little withdrawn. And maybe a little more calculating.  
  
"You look beautiful," he said to her when she reached the bottom step. He reached his hand out to her.  
  
Stephanie looked down at Jericho's outstretched hand. She hadn't expected any compliments or any gestures. But it was nice. They were going to be married after all. She slid her hand into his and walked with him to the table by her front door. "Thank you," she said softly.  
  
Stephanie looked at Jericho's charcoal gray suit. It fit him perfectly, which was nice to see. Vince had a lot of money, but he still could rarely be bothered to go to a tailor and have his suits fitted to his body. Jericho looked dignified which was almost a shock to Stephanie's senses. "You look nice too," she finally said.  
  
"Thanks," Jericho said.  
  
Stephanie grabbed her purse from the table by her front door. She looked down at the legal papers lying on the table. It was her prenuptial agreement with Jericho. They were really going to do it.  
  
"Do you have the license?" Stephanie asked.  
  
Jericho drew a folded piece of paper out of the breast pocket of his jacket and nodded. "You ready to bind yourself eternally to me?"  
  
"That's optimistic," Stephanie said.  
  
"Why not?" Jericho asked, opening the front door for Stephanie to walk out.  
  
"Marriage doesn't last forever anymore," Stephanie said. "I should know. I mean, it's really kind of trivial anymore. Is it one in three marriages that end in divorce?"  
  
"I don't know," Jericho said. He opened the passenger door to his car for Stephanie and walked around the car to his side.  
  
"Of course, our situation is different," Stephanie said, when Jericho slid into the car. "I mean, we don't expect to last forever."  
  
"That's very true," Jericho said, starting his car.  
  
"Just watch," Stephanie said. "We're going to actually stick to the til death do us part thing."  
  
"It would be ironic," Jericho nodded.  
  
"Or we die young," Stephanie shrugged.  
  
"I kind of like the first option more," Jericho said. "But I like life."  
  
"Me too," Stephanie said. "Sometimes."  
  
"What's that all about?" Jericho asked.  
  
"What?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"You said you sometimes like life," Jericho said. "That's not a normal response Stephanie."  
  
"Oh," Stephanie murmured. But she offered no explanation. Jericho didn't press any further.  
  
Twenty minutes later they pulled in front of the Greenwich City Hall. They walked to the office of the Justice of the Peace slowly, hands intertwined.  
  
"We don't have to do this," Stephanie said to Jericho. "You don't have to save me Jericho."  
  
"I'm not saving you Stephanie," Jericho said. "I'm doing the right thing."  
  
"Many people would probably disagree with you," Stephanie said.  
  
"Fuck other people," Jericho shrugged.  
  
Stephanie smiled softly. "I never thought I would hear that coming out of your lips. It seems almost wrong."  
  
"But liberating," Jericho joked.  
  
"Whatever you say," Stephanie said.  
  
"Well, you ready to marry me?" Jericho asked, grinning at Stephanie.  
  
"I'm ready if you are," Stephanie said.  
  
*  
  
Stephanie looked over at her husband as he dozed. Her husband. She shook her head as she thought about it. The whole situation was just out of control. She looked the other way to look out of the plane window.  
  
They would land at Heathrow within the hour. They were going to Insurrextion. Jericho had a match against Kurt Angle to be number one contender for the Undisputed Championship. Stephanie gritted her teeth as she though about Hunter still holding the damn belt.  
  
She looked back at Jericho. He actually looked kind of young when he slept. Suddenly she thought of something.  
  
"Chris!" she hissed.  
  
"Huh?" Jericho mumbled, slowly opening his eyes. "What?"  
  
"What about your parents?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Jericho asked.  
  
"What are your parents going to think when you announce on television that you are married to me?" Stephanie asked. "I mean, that's going to shock the hell out of them."  
  
"Probably," Jericho nodded. "But I thought you were just going to run out to help me tomorrow if I need it and we would announce it at SmackDown."  
  
"Oh yeah," Stephanie said. "Sorry. You can go back to sleep."  
  
"It's okay," Jericho said. "I got us the honeymoon suite at some five star hotel."  
  
"Really?" Stephanie asked, smiling over at Jericho.  
  
"Yeah," Jericho nodded. "Just for show of course."  
  
"Of course," Stephanie giggled. "It's sweet though."  
  
"I guess," Jericho said, smiling at Stephanie. "I've never done this married thing before."  
  
"This will just be practice for the real thing," Stephanie shrugged. "You'll be an old pro when you find the one."  
  
"You believe the one exists?" Jericho asked.  
  
"Maybe," Stephanie shrugged. "I don't really know anymore."  
  
"I see," Jericho said. "You're far too young to be so disillusioned."  
  
"I'm not disillusioned," Stephanie said.  
  
"Whatever you say Mrs. Jericho," Chris smirked.  
  
"Oh God," Stephanie groaned. "Stephanie Jericho. Stephanie McMahon- Jericho."  
  
"I like it," Chris grinned. "Mrs. Chris Jericho."  
  
"Well, it could be worse," Stephanie said. "Stephanie Phatu."  
  
"I wouldn't think you would look on the bright side," Jericho said, laughing at Stephanie's remark.  
  
"Why not?" Stephanie said. "Can't always say 'life's a piece of shit, when you look at it' now can I?"  
  
"Got to love Monty Python," Jericho said, his eyes dancing with laughter.  
  
"I like them sure," Stephanie said. "But Shane killed me when we were kids. He loved them and would constantly quote them. It drove me crazy."  
  
"I'll have to remember that," Jericho said.  
  
"You might want to remember that we live together for the foreseeable future," Stephanie said. "You might not want to piss me off."  
  
"Where's the fun in that?" Jericho asked cheekily. 


	3. Attacks on All Sides

"You were great!" Jericho exclaimed as he twirled Stephanie around in circles in the middle of the ring.   
  
"Thanks," Stephanie said, blushing prettily. She had to admit she had been rather good herself. She had come down to the ring while Kurt had Jericho in the ankle lock and she started to wave at the ref.  
  
The ref came over to keep her out of the ring. Kurt got up and threw the ref out of the way. He looked down at Stephanie.  
  
"You're not supposed to be here!" Kurt exclaimed.  
  
"So?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"Get the hell out of here before Hunter comes down!" Kurt yelled at her.  
  
"Shouldn't you worry more about your match?" Stephanie asked, noticing that Chris was solidly on his feet.  
  
"Stephanie," Kurt said, concern in his pale blue eyes. Stephanie felt a momentary pang of guilt for the fact that she was helping Jericho and not her friend. Then she remembered two things: Kurt had put her out of business and Jericho was her husband. "Please, I don't want to see you hurt!"  
  
Stephanie shrugged as she watched Jericho turn Kurt around and bulldog him into the mat. Jericho leaned ran to the ropes and hit Kurt with the Lionsault. He pinned him for the three count.  
  
Stephanie smiled at Jericho now that she was in his arms. "Should we give all of these people a sneak peek?"  
  
"What?" Jericho asked, not understanding where Stephanie's thoughts were.  
  
Jericho was holding Stephanie slightly above his head, so she dipped her head and kissed her lips to his. Jericho stilled for a moment and then returned the kiss. They kissed rather deeply for a long moment and then they parted, intertwining their hands. Jericho thought that was their first kiss since the ceremony the day before at the city hall.  
  
Jericho helped Stephanie out of the ring and to the back. They smiled at each other happily, glad the plan had gone off without a hitch. For once.  
  
"What the hell was that?" Vince McMahon asked, his face an unattractive mixture purple and red.  
  
"What Daddy?" Stephanie asked innocently.  
  
"That...that...kiss!" Vince exclaimed.  
  
"Oh that," Stephanie said. "You'll see."  
  
"Jericho!" Vince exclaimed. "You better explain to me why you were kissing my daughter."  
  
"Last time I checked Vince," Jericho said, squeezing Stephanie's hand in his. "Steph and I were both adults."  
  
"That may be but she's my daughter," Vince said. "And she wasn't even supposed to be out there."  
  
"Oh Daddy," Stephanie said, smiling. "It's going to be okay. I didn't get hurt. And Jericho gets to face Hunter for the Undisputed Championship at Unforgiven."  
  
"Kurt is not going to happy," Vince said.  
  
As if on cue, Kurt came to the back from the ring. Cursing under his breath. He saw Jericho and Stephanie, holding hands no less, and he went livid.  
  
"What the hell was that?" Kurt asked Stephanie, not bothering to hide his fury.  
  
"What?" Stephanie asked innocently. Jericho smiled at her reaction. She was great at pretending she didn't know exactly what was going on.  
  
"I thought we were friends!" Kurt exclaimed. "And you help...him?"  
  
"Excuse me?" Jericho asked, not liking Kurt's tone.  
  
"Can we take this to my dressing room?" Vince asked, looking around uncomfortably at other wrestlers and personnel passing through the hallway.  
  
"Chris, honey, calm down," Stephanie said, placing a placating hand on Jericho's chest. "I'm sure Kurt's just mad and confused."  
  
"To put it in a nutshell," Kurt nodded.  
  
"Kurt, Chris and I have to get out of here before Hunter decides to come after me," Stephanie said. "But we will explain everything to you on SmackDown."  
  
"That's not good enough!" Kurt said.  
  
"It's going to have to be," Jericho said seriously. "Now, I have to make sure Hunter doesn't get his hands on Stephanie."  
  
Vince and Kurt watched in stunned disbelief as Jericho and Stephanie walked down the hall, still holding hands.  
  
*  
  
Jericho laughed at the Monty Python skit on the television. Stephanie looked up from her seat at the desk. She was looking over Jericho's contract one last time to make sure that their being married made it okay for her to be back. It was, just like the hundreds of other times she had looked over it.  
  
The phone rang and Jericho reached over and answered it. "Hello?"  
  
After a brief pause he grinned and said, "Hey Mom."  
  
Stephanie was a little shocked to hear the obvious happiness at his voice in hearing him talk to his mother. She had assumed he felt about his parents the way she felt about her own. She was connected to them for the rest of her life, but she didn't need to feel happy about it.  
  
"I can explain Mom," Jericho said, Stephanie's attention reverting to Jericho's conversation on the phone. His brow was creased with concern. "Mom, I know that the Internet probably said we were having sex in the ring."  
  
Stephanie slapped her hand over her mouth to muffle the sound of the surprised laugh that had erupted at Jericho's comment. "It was just a kiss," Jericho said, looking at Stephanie and rolling his eyes as he grinned. "I've kissed her before. Actually, this time she kissed me."  
  
Stephanie grinned back at him. It was the first time she had initiated a kiss between them. She felt her grin even out as she thought about the other kisses. She always forgot about them as soon as she got retribution for them. But now she was wondering what had been the motivation behind them. She was going to be sharing a house and a hotel with him for God knew how long.  
  
"Mom, it's late here," Jericho said. "I'll call you tomorrow."  
  
"Chris," Stephanie said quietly.  
  
Chris covered the mouthpiece of the phone. "Yeah?"  
  
"Tell her you will fly home tomorrow so you can explain everything," Stephanie said.  
  
"But what about you?" Chris asked.  
  
"I'll come too," Stephanie said.  
  
"You sure?" Chris asked.  
  
"I'm sure that your parents will want to meet your bride," Stephanie said.  
  
"Okay," Jericho said, smiling gratefully at Stephanie. "Mom, mom...listen to me Mom. I'm going to come home tomorrow and tell you all about it. Okay?"  
  
Jericho listened on the other end. "I'll call you when I get in. Okay Mom. I love you too. Good night."  
  
He hung up the phone and sighed heavily. "I forgot she always read the reports on what happens at the UK pay-per-views."  
  
"At least you know she cares," Stephanie said.  
  
"Yeah, but I'm an adult now," Jericho said. "I shouldn't have to constantly explain myself to her."  
  
"I understand completely," Stephanie said.  
  
There was a loud knock at the door. Jericho got up to answer it and Stephanie got up behind him to see who it was.  
  
Jericho opened the door and his face turned dark. "What the hell do you want?"  
  
"To see my wife," Hunter growled.  
  
"She's not your wife anymore," Jericho said. "And she doesn't want to see you."  
  
"Let me hear it from her," Hunter said, trying to push past Jericho to see into the hotel room.  
  
"What part of your ape brain doesn't understand that Stephanie wants nothing to do with you?" Jericho asked.  
  
Stephanie giggled. She wrapped her arms around Jericho's waist and settled her chin on his shoulder so Hunter could see her face. "He was right Hunter, I don't want to see you."  
  
"What are you doing clinging to him?" Hunter asked, his eyes red with fury.  
  
"I'm sure that's none of your business," Stephanie said, pulling her arms more tightly around Jericho's midsection. He placed one hand over both of hers in encouragement.  
  
"You're my wife!" Hunter exclaimed.  
  
"No," Stephanie said. "I'm your ex-wife. Thanks for the settlement by the way. My bank account really needed that boost."  
  
"You little bitch," Hunter said.  
  
"I'm not a little bitch," Stephanie said, standing up straight and looking at him in the eyes. "I'm the biggest bitch you will ever meet. And you will live to regret the day you ever humiliated me Hunter Hearst Helmsley."  
  
Jericho slammed the door in Hunter's face at that. Neither he nor Stephanie paid any heed to his banging on the door.  
  
"You okay?" Jericho asked.  
  
Stephanie nodded her head. "I knew confrontations would come. I have a feeling that won't be the worst."  
  
"You're probably right," Jericho said. He instinctively pulled Stephanie into a hug. She let herself go lax in his arms. She held onto him as if he were her life rope.  
  
"Thank you Chris," Stephanie said. "For everything."  
  
"Hey, shush," Jericho said. "You're helping me as much as I'm helping you. Isn't that what a marriage is supposed to be...give and receive?"  
  
"I wouldn't know about that," Stephanie said. "My other marriage wasn't exactly the prototype of a healthy relationship."  
  
"Well, we'll see if this one can be a little better," Chris said, hugging her more tightly. 


	4. Relative Surprises

"You don't have to do this Stephanie," Chris said, looking over at his flight companion. He and Stephanie had caught the earliest flight out of Heathrow that morning and were heading for Winnipeg.  
  
"Jericho," Stephanie said calmly. "Do you really want to tell your parents you've been married for less than three days and not have your bride with you?"  
  
"I can't see how it matters," Jericho shrugged.  
  
"You and I know that this relationship is platonic," Stephanie said. "But why let your parents, who you obviously love, know that you are making a mockery of marriage?"  
  
"A mockery of marriage?" Jericho asked, his blue eyes curious.  
  
"This isn't exactly a marriage based on mutual trust and admiration and love," Stephanie said. "This is a marriage based on revenge and personal benefit. That's a mockery of the institution of marriage if I've ever seen one."  
  
"I guess," Jericho said, leaning his head on the back of his seat. His head shot back up after a moment. "Does this mean we're going to convince my parents we're actually in love?"  
  
"I guess so," Stephanie shrugged.  
  
"But, isn't that like lying to them?" Jericho asked, his voice uneasy.  
  
"Think of it as sparing their feelings," Stephanie said. "Haven't you ever done anything for them that was totally not you but you knew it would make them happy?"  
  
"I went to college," Jericho sighed.  
  
"Me too," Stephanie laughed. "My mom really wanted me to go and explore my options. I always knew I wanted to work for the WWF."  
  
"You really love the business don't you?" Jericho asked. It had been a revelation to work with Stephanie when she became his business partner. She would watch tapes of his competitors so she knew their weaknesses. She would get to an event early and leave late. She understood every intricacy. It was nice.  
  
"It's in the blood," Stephanie said.  
  
"I guess so," Jericho said. "You okay?"  
  
"What do you mean?" Stephanie asked, shocked to hear the concern in his voice.  
  
"You just seem...tired or something," Jericho said, looking carefully at Stephanie.  
  
"A little I guess," Stephanie said. "I just feel old I guess. I mean, not even close to 30 and I've already been married twice, owned and lost a business, and turned on every single member of my family. I don't think I even have what most people would call a family anymore. It's all been exhausting."  
  
"Well, you can be a member of my family for a while if you want," Jericho said. "We're a strange lot but we're a nice family."  
  
Stephanie looked in shock at Jericho. Was he actually inviting her into his family, allowing her to become attached to him and his parents? It was almost scary. For so long she had wished that she and Hunter had a family. She wanted to get along with his in-laws, she wanted children and it had never happened. And now the man who was her husband in name only was offering her everything she had wanted. Well, not the children.  
  
"That's really sweet," Stephanie said sincerely. "I doubt they will like me very much though."  
  
"My dad is oblivious and generally likes everyone he comes into contact with," Chris said. "My mom has this annoying ability to look through whatever kind of image you try and project and sees the real you."  
  
"What are you saying?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"She'll like you just fine," Jericho said.  
  
"That sounds like you just said the real me is a nice person," Stephanie said, smiling at Chris softly.  
  
"Maybe not a nice person," Jericho teased, "but definitely not a ball-breaking bitch."  
  
"Thanks," Stephanie said dryly.  
  
"Why don't you get some sleep?" Jericho asked. "You were up with the dawn this morning and we've had a busy couple of days."  
  
"I'm fine," Stephanie said.  
  
"And that explains the dark circles under you eyes how?" Jericho asked.  
  
"Maybe just a little nap," Stephanie said, settling her head on Jericho's shoulder. Jericho smiled knowingly as Stephanie settled into a deep sleep.  
  
*  
  
"Stephanie," Jericho whispered, nudging her gently. "The plane is landing."  
  
"Huh?" Stephanie murmured, her eyes fluttering open. She looked up into Jericho's intense blue eyes. She inexplicably blushed at the open, gentle look in his eyes.  
  
"The plane is landing," Jericho said, helping her sit fully upright. "We'll be off of the plane in just a couple minutes."  
  
"Okay," Stephanie said, nodding her head. She pulled her hand through her hair, trying to tame it somehow.  
  
"Don't worry about how you look," Jericho said softly. "You look good."  
  
"Thanks," Stephanie said, blushing again.  
  
About ten minutes later, Jericho and Stephanie walked off of the plane together, their hands intertwined. Jericho used his free hand to dig around his carry-on bag for his cell phone. He turned it on and saw he had a text message.  
  
'Your cousin is here. She will pick you up at the baggage claim.'  
  
"Damn!" Jericho muttered.  
  
"What?" Stephanie asked in concern, looking over his shoulder at the message. "Do you not like your cousin?"  
  
"I love her a lot," Jericho said, shaking his head in frustration. "I should have known she couldn't keep her damn nose out of this. I thought I warned her to stay out of my life for the time being."  
  
"You are making absolutely no sense," Stephanie said, trailing a step behind Jericho as he walked quickly towards the baggage claim. He was at the claim for their bag and he grabbed them quickly. He hefted them out to the curb. Stephanie was trailing a few feet behind him when he was finally done. She could see he was fuming still. She was confused.  
  
"Do you not want me to meet your cousin?" Stephanie asked, refusing to feel hurt if that was why he was angry.  
  
Jericho turned to Stephanie and his eyes notably softened. "No Stephanie, it's not that. You've already met her several times."  
  
"If it isn't Jerky and the Princess," a familiar voice said from behind them.   
  
Jericho and Stephanie both turned together to see Lita leaning against the wall, keys dangling in her hand.  
  
"Hey Leet," Jericho said, dropping the bags in his hands to go and embrace the redhead. Stephanie's eyes went wide with shock. The last time she had seen them together Jericho had Lita locked into the Walls of Jericho.  
  
"Hey you big jerk," Lita said, returning the hug. "I'm sure you're ready to get home."  
  
He nodded and he grabbed the bags again. "Lita is my cousin Stephanie. Stephanie is my wife Lita."  
  
Both women looked at each other, eyes wide with shock. Jericho stood there grinning as he started to walk in the direction of the parking lot. Stephanie turned and followed Jericho wordlessly. Lita brought up the end of the line.  
  
"Where are we parked Red?" Jericho asked.  
  
"Um, D-12," Lita said. Jericho headed there, knowing the parking lot of his hometown well.  
  
When they reached the car, Jericho turned to the two Divas and said, "You girls can say something now."  
  
"How could you not tell me?" Stephanie asked, a note of fury in her voice.  
  
"What the hell were you thinking about marrying her?" Lita asked.  
  
"How could you be related to...her?" Stephanie continued.  
  
"Don't you remember that she hates you?" Lita asked.  
  
Jericho held up his hands to ward off the questions. "Calm down! One question at a time please."  
  
Lita and Stephanie both silenced and looked at each other with evident dislike. "Now, I didn't tell you Lita was my cousin because it wasn't my story to tell. Lita asked me long ago, when she decided she wanted to make it on her own, not to tell anyone.  
  
"Stephanie and I are married so she could come back to the WWF and destroy Hunter. And regardless of what she and I have thought of each other in the past, I'm fairly certain that we have both changed our opinions of each other.  
  
"And I can't really control the fact that I'm related to Lita. I actually love her Steph, so you might not want to badmouth her in front of me."  
  
Stephanie's cheeks burned with embarrassment. "I'm sorry," she said, both to Jericho and Lita.  
  
"Whatever," Lita said, unlocking the trunk so Jericho could put their bags in. "She could be using you Jericho. I mean, didn't you wonder when she asked you to marry her?"  
  
"I asked her to marry me," Jericho said to Lita. "I thought up this plan."  
  
"Oh," Lita said. "Nevermind."  
  
"Look Leet," Chris said to his cousin. "Stephanie don't want anyone else to know this is not a real marriage. We want everyone to think she and I are in love. Do you think you could pretend?"  
  
Lita looked doubtfully at Stephanie. "I don't know Chris. I just don't know."  
  
"Please Lita," Stephanie pleaded.  
  
"You have a couple of days to convince me you aren't going to hurt my cousin," Lita said.  
  
"Don't you have RAW tomorrow?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"I'm still filming for 'Dark Angel', so no," Lita said.  
  
"I don't want to hurt Chris," Stephanie said to Lita, a woman she had always thought of as a foe.  
  
"Prove it," Lita said. 


	5. Settling In

Lita looked in the rearview mirror and saw Stephanie gazing out of the window. There was definitely something different about the woman. There was an air of maturity that she had never had before.  
  
She looked to the passenger seat to see Jericho turned so that he could watch both Stephanie and her. She grinned at him for a moment. "It's nice to see you away from work bud," Lita said, reaching out her hand to squeeze his.  
  
"You too Red," Jericho said, returning the grin. "How are my parents?"  
  
"Your dad is the same as always," Lita said. "Luckily that's a good thing. Your mom is definitely worried about you."  
  
"Because of Internet reports?" Jericho asked in disbelief.  
  
"I guess," Lita shrugged.  
  
"Can I help somehow?" Stephanie asked softly from the backseat. "I mean, is there a way I can keep her from worrying about you?"  
  
"That's sweet Steph," Jericho said, smiling at her. "But I think it will all be okay."  
  
"If you're sure…" Stephanie trailed off.  
  
"He's right," Lita said. "Jericho is normally a fairly good judge of character. If he trusted you enough to marry you then there must be some redeeming characteristics in there."  
  
"Thanks," Stephanie said dryly.  
  
"Anytime," Lita said.  
  
"Look," Jericho said seriously. "I know you two have history, but for two days can you put that crap behind you and pretend you can tolerate each other?"  
  
Stephanie's eyes widened in shock. He had been rather easygoing since he introduced Lita as his cousin. She slowly nodded, "For you."  
  
"Thank you," Jericho said. He looked pointedly at Lita.  
  
"Yeah, sure," Lita shrugged.  
  
"Thanks," Jericho sighed, closing his eyes in relief.  
  
"So, um, Lita," Stephanie said, trying to break the uncomfortable silence in the car. "How is Matt?"  
  
"Like you care," Lita said.  
  
"Well, Jericho cares," Stephanie said. "So I will try to care."  
  
"Why do you call him Jericho?" Lita asked. "His name is Chris!"  
  
"I know his name is Chris," Stephanie said. "I guess it's just habit. I mean, I used to have to discern between him and Benoit so I just started calling both of them by their last names."  
  
"It's fine Stephanie," Jericho said, giving Lita a warning look.  
  
"No, she's right," Stephanie said. "A wife doesn't normally call her husband by his last name. I'll try to remember."  
  
"Whatever," Jericho said.  
  
"Matt's fine by the way," Lita said. "He is in Cameron with Jeff and his dad."  
  
"Does he know you two are related?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"Yeah," Lita said. "He wanted to know why Jericho was so protective of me when we first started going out."  
  
"Oh," Stephanie said.  
  
Lita looked over at Jericho. She loved her cousin and she wanted what was best for him. She had strong doubts that Stephanie could ever be what was best for him. And she also knew Jericho had harbored secret feelings for the McMahon in question for nearly two years. She hoped he wouldn't let his feelings for her blind him to the true nature of his bride.  
  
Everyone knew Stephanie was bad news. She couldn't be trusted. Leopards can't change their spots and Stephanie couldn't be any different.  
  
But Jericho obviously thought she could change.  
  
*  
  
"Mom!" Jericho called when he stepped into the front door of his childhood home. "I'm home."  
  
"I'm right here," Eve, his mother said, coming out of the kitchen. She went and hugged her son. "Your old room is cleaned up so you can stay here tonight instead of bothering with a hotel."  
  
"Actually, I'm going to need to get a hotel anyways," Jericho said, looking towards the door. Lita came in, followed by Stephanie.  
  
"Oh, hello," Eve said, looking suspiciously at Stephanie.  
  
"Hello Mrs. Jericho," Stephanie said shyly, stepping forward to shake the woman's hand.  
  
"And you're Stephanie McMahon, am I right?" Eve asked, returning the handshake.  
  
"Aunt Eve, you know very well who she is," Lita said, grinning at her aunt.  
  
"Yes, yes I do," Eve said.  
  
"The thing is," Jericho said, standing next to his mother. "Stephanie isn't just Stephanie McMahon. She's Stephanie McMahon-Jericho."  
  
Eve's eyes widened. She stared at her only child in something akin to horror. "You're…married?"  
  
"Yeah, since Friday," Jericho said. "We fell for each other and thought why not just bite the bullet?"  
  
"You didn't even invite me," Eve said, tears filling her eyes.  
  
Stephanie took a few steps towards her new mother-in-law and said, "Chris really wanted to tell you, but everything was so last minute that we decided it would be best if we just came and told you in person after we had done it."  
  
"Why couldn't you two wait?" Eve asked.  
  
"We thought if we waited we would never actually get married," Stephanie said. "And we both wanted to get married. I'm glad we did."  
  
"You are?" Eve asked, turning inquisitive eyes on the brunette. "You've tried to destroy my son before."  
  
"That's before I took the time to get to know him," Stephanie said, reaching out her hand to hold Jericho's hand. "He's really an amazing man, so caring and generous."  
  
"Yes he is," Eve said. "Well, I'll just have to set another place at the table I guess."  
  
"I'll do it," Jericho said. "Lita, why don't you help?"  
  
"Okay," Lita nodded. Jericho gave Stephanie's hand an encouraging squeeze before he headed to the dining room.  
  
"I know you're afraid I'm using your son," Stephanie said to Eve. "But it's the last thing I would want to do. There was a time…but we've both changed so much. He makes me truly happy. I forgot what it was like for awhile."  
  
"I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt," Eve said to Stephanie. "But only because I love my son."  
  
"I understand," Stephanie said, nodding her head.  
  
"Why don't you help me in the kitchen?" Eve asked.  
  
"I'd love to," Stephanie said.  
  
*  
  
Jericho repeatedly ran his through Stephanie's long brown hair in a gentle, soothing motion. Her head was resting on the pillow in his lap. He smiled when he looked down and saw she was asleep.  
  
She had helped his mother finish dinner. She had helped Lita and himself clean the dishes. She had listened to his father, Ted, recount several stories about Jericho as a child. She had gone out side with Chris and Ted to play with their gigantic German Shepard.  
  
He had sat down on the couch and told Stephanie to go ahead and lay down, using him as a pillow about thirty minutes earlier. Lita was sitting in the armchair next to him. They were watching the news.  
  
"You guys should probably get going," Lita whispered to Chris, careful not to wake Stephanie. "If there are any hotel rooms left."  
  
"You know what," Chris said. "I'm comfortable and I'd hate to wake her up. So I guess we will sleep right here."  
  
"She impressed me today," Lita admitted. "She seemed really interested in getting to know your parents."  
  
"She did, didn't she?" Jericho asked, looking fondly down at the head in his lap.  
  
"Chris, be careful," Lita said.  
  
"What?" Chris asked, looking over at her cousin.  
  
"I know how you feel about her," Lita said. "I don't want to see you disappointed."  
  
"Hey, I know what I got myself into," Chris said. "I had to help her. She may never return my feelings. I'll just have to get over that."  
  
"You deserve better Jericho," Lita said. She got out of the chair she was sitting in and raised her hands above her head.  
  
"Hey, I didn't hurt you when I put you in the Walls did I?" Chris asked, concern darkening his expression.  
  
"Nah," Lita said. "I know you took it easy on me."  
  
"Yeah, I sure did," Jericho said grinning at her. "I'm just lucky you understand that I had to act like an ass if I was ever going to get any inside help at getting those belts."  
  
"I know," Lita said. She walked over to an antique chest that Eve kept blankets in. She grabbed two and draped one over Stephanie and maneuvered the other one over Chris as best she could.  
  
"Thanks," Jericho said to his cousin.  
  
"Sure," Lita shrugged. "I still don't completely trust her. But I'm staying openminded."  
  
"That's all I can ask," Jericho said. Lita leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. "Night Red."  
  
"Night Jerky," Lita said fondly. 


	6. Family Matters

"Stephanie," Lita said to the woman who was sitting on the couch idly playing with Chris' hand. "You want to take Daphne on a walk with me?"  
  
"Um, sure," Stephanie said uncertainly, looking uncomfortably at Chris before she stood up. "I'll see you in a bit."  
  
"Have fun girls," Jericho said, patting Stephanie's hand before she pulled it out of his. "Try not to kill each other."  
  
"Funny," Lita said, flipping her cousin off.  
  
"Thanks sweetie," Jericho said, grinning cheekily.  
  
Lita put a leash on Daphne, the German Shepard. "C'mon girl!"  
  
Stephanie and Lita walked in silence for a few moments. Every few moments, one of the women would look furtively at the other and then almost immediately redirect their attention to the pavement ahead of them.  
  
"I love my cousin," Lita finally said. "He's always been a presence in my life and I really would hate to see you screw him up."  
  
"I'm not messing with him Lita," Stephanie said. "He's really become a good friend to me. I don't know what I would do without him."  
  
"I know he's a good guy deep down," Lita said. "But I don't know about you Stephanie. You've done some pretty messed up shit. You've gone after both me and Chris. You've turned on your own family numerous times, the list goes on and on."  
  
"I know it does," Stephanie said. "I won't say I'm proud of all that I've done in the past. But it is in the past. And I won't say I've suddenly seen the light and I'm going to change. I might change. But I have to reclaim something I lost."  
  
"What?" Lita asked.  
  
"I don't know," Stephanie admitted. "It's just something that seemed to die within me when I realized that Hunter had changed so much and I had changed for him and I had nothing to show for it. Nothing to live for."  
  
"I don't understand," Lita said.  
  
"I don't care about life anymore Lita," Stephanie said. "Before Jericho came to me with this crazy plan, I was going to just let myself die. But he came and gave me a reason to stay around. At least for awhile."  
  
"You're scaring me," Lita said.  
  
"I just don't have a reason to hurt you and Chris," Stephanie said. "I have no motivation to do much. It's like this is my final act."  
  
"That makes you dangerous," Lita said. "You're not afraid of hurting people. You're not afraid of burning bridges."  
  
"I promise not to hurt Chris," Stephanie said softly. "At least not intentionally. That's all I can do Lita."  
  
"Do you care about him?" Lita asked.  
  
"He's a good friend," Stephanie said to Lita. "I'm not in love with him or anything crazy like that. But over the past month or so, I've really depended on him."  
  
"Be careful with him," Lita said. "He may seem impervious to things, but he's got a really soft heart and a thin skin."  
  
"Even where I'm concerned?" Stephanie joked.  
  
"Especially where you're concerned," Lita said.  
  
"He used to hate me," Stephanie said.  
  
"He's never hated a person in his life," Lita said. "He liked to get your attention. Especially when no one was paying attention to you."  
  
"What do you mean?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"Nothing," Lita said. "Don't worry about it."  
  
"That's not fair!" Stephanie exclaimed. "You can't say something cryptic like that and then not explain."  
  
"I can do whatever I want to," Lita said. "Life's a bitch and then you die."  
  
"That's just wonderful," Stephanie sighed.  
  
"But I do mean it when I say he's not as thick-skinned as he seems," Lita said. "And he cares about you Stephanie. He never would have thought of this crazy plan if he didn't."  
  
"He felt guilty," Stephanie said.  
  
"That's what he told you," Lita said. "But he wants you to be happy. He's always wanted you to be happy."  
  
"Even when he hit me in the face with a pie?" Stephanie asked. "When he pointed out to the world that I had gotten implants?"  
  
"Did you laugh when you got home after being hit with the pie?" Lita asked. "I mean, I would have been pissed at the time, but when I was at home by myself I would have laughed my head off. I mean, it was like the Three Stooges almost."  
  
"Okay, so I laughed," Stephanie said.  
  
"And the breast enhancement thing," Lita said. "I think he just thought you would be the one woman who was confident enough to feel like you were fine without them."  
  
"You have them," Stephanie said.  
  
"He got mad at me too," Lita shrugged.  
  
"What did you do?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"I flipped him off," Lita said. "And then I told him I was a grown up. He needs reminding from time to time."  
  
"I see," Stephanie nodded.  
  
"I'm not going to tell anyone," Lita said quietly. "I think you are serious about not hurting Chris."  
  
"Why?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"Because you never would have put in the effort to make his mom believe you were in love with him if you didn't care," Lita said. "And if you care, then you won't hurt him intentionally, like you said."  
  
"Thanks Lita," Stephanie said.  
  
"And you being with Chris can only bring about positive changes in you," Lita said, laughing at the frown that crossed the face of the brunette.  
  
*  
  
"Now, you two have a great flight," Eve said, as Jericho picked up his and Stephanie's bags. "And call when you get in."  
  
"Sure Mom," Jericho said, rolling his eyes as he walked toward the front door.  
  
Stephanie shouldered her purse and walked over to Eve. "Thanks for having me. I really had a great time getting to know you."  
  
"Don't lie," Eve said, smiling at her daughter-in-law. "It was nerve wracking."  
  
"Well, yeah," Stephanie agreed. "But it was still nice."  
  
"I'm glad," Eve said. "Once I got past the fact that my son married you without even a call to let me know, I found it easy to get along with you."  
  
"I know I was probably very different from what you expected," Stephanie said, smiling understandingly. "I know I can be ruthless sometimes and the thing I'm most ruthless about is business."  
  
"I see," Eve said. "Well, as long as you aren't ruthless with my son's heart everything will be fine."  
  
"I'll try my best to treat Chris how he deserves to be treated," Stephanie said. "He's a wonderful man. You did a wonderful job."  
  
"Thank you," Eve said, tears filling her eyes. "I can't ask for a better compliment than that."  
  
"It was nice to feel like I was a part of a family for awhile," Stephanie said. "You and Ted should come visit Chris and I sometime. I'd love to return the hospitality."  
  
"Oh sweetie, you don't have to," Eve said. "I know you're a career woman."  
  
"If there's one thing I learned while I was here it was that you should not put your career before family," Stephanie said. "I hope I'm not wrong in assuming we are family now."  
  
"No, you're perfectly right," Eve said. "Just let me know when it's convenient for you."  
  
"Okay," Stephanie nodded. She reached her hand out to shake Eve's.  
  
Eve grinned and pulled Stephanie into a hug. "In this family, we leave with hugs, not handshakes."  
  
"I'll remember that," Stephanie said.  
  
Jericho came back into the house to see the two women who mattered most to him smiling warmly at each other. He grinned and went to hug his mom. "I love you."  
  
"I love you too son," Eve said. "Be careful."  
  
"Of course," Jericho said. He took Stephanie's hand in hers as she waved to Eve one last time.  
  
"Did you have a good time?" Jericho asked as they walked to the car.  
  
"Wonderful," Stephanie said. "It was like I belonged."  
  
"You do," Jericho said.  
  
Stephanie looked at Jericho in shock, but said nothing. 


	7. In the Ring

"Calm down Stephanie," Jericho said as he looked over at his wife. Her breathing was labored as they sat in his dressing room.  
  
Stephanie looked up at Jericho, her blue eyes dazed. "I can't believe we are going to do this. We could still get our marriage annulled you know."  
  
Jericho got up from his chair and plopped himself onto the couch next to Stephanie. He put a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Why are you scared Steph?"  
  
"Maybe we should have told my dad," Stephanie said.  
  
"Why?" Jericho asked darkly. "What had he ever done for either of us?"  
  
"He helped you become the Undisputed Champion," Stephanie pointed out. "He accepted me back, even after I tried to destroy him."  
  
"He also didn't support me when I wanted a re-match to get my title back," Jericho pointed out. "Hell, he wasn't happy to see you on Saturday and he really wasn't happy that Angle wasn't the number one contender."  
  
"That's just Dad," Stephanie said. "He's going to be angry."  
  
"He can't fire me," Jericho said. "He would lose upwards of six million dollars if he did."  
  
"Oh yeah," Stephanie said. "But he could make your life miserable."  
  
"Why?" Jericho asked.  
  
"Because you're married to me," Stephanie said, looking down at her hands in her lap. "He never seems to treat the men I'm involved with too well. He never liked Hunter. Shane had to convince him to give Andrew a chance."  
  
"He liked Angle," Jericho said.  
  
"I was never involved with him," Stephanie said.  
  
"Really?" Jericho asked. "Smart girl."  
  
"What does that mean?" Stephanie demanded.  
  
"It means that Kurt has always had a thing for Trish Stratus, but she would never give him the time of day," Jericho said. "He wouldn't treat you like you deserve to be treated."  
  
"Coming from you," Stephanie said, grinning up at Jericho, "I might not want to be treated how you think I deserve to be treated."  
  
"That's true," Jericho said, nodding his head.  
  
"That's not nice!" Stephanie said. "You're supposed to say, of course I think you should be treated like a princess!"  
  
"Of course I think you should be treated like a princess," Jericho said, grinning down at Stephanie. She giggled.  
  
"That's a sound I like to hear," Jericho said, squeezing her shoulders companionably. "What do you say we go out there and explain?"  
  
*  
  
The crowd booed as Jericho made his way down to the ring, Stephanie on his arm. He smiled out at the crowd, reveling in their animosity. Or pretending to revel in it. At least he got their attention still.  
  
He helped Stephanie into the ring and then entered himself. He went over and motioned for a microphone. He stood in the middle of the ring, just listening. Then his eyes caught with Stephanie's. They looked at each other for a moment and then he grinned. She beamed back at him.  
  
"I don't know if any of you ignorami have read the Internet reports from Insurrexion," Jericho said. "But just to recap, your Living Legend, thanks in no small part to a well timed distraction from a certain beautiful brunette, defeated Kirk Angel to get the number one contender position."  
  
The crowd booed. Jericho held his hand to his ear, acting like he was having trouble hearing them. "What brunette you ask?"  
  
There were more boos. Jericho simply grinned. Then he lifted the microphone to his mouth and he said, "I'm glad you asked. It was none other than the gorgeous Stephanie McMahon."  
  
Stephanie quickly shook her hands and started acting like she was reminding Jericho about something. "Oh that's right, I'm a silly fool. I apologize Stephanie. I was helped by none other than Stephanie McMahon-Jericho."  
  
There was a lull in the boos. They were almost immediately replaced with even louder, more vitriolic boos. "Did you want to explain sweetie?" Jericho asked, offering Stephanie the microphone.  
  
"Thanks baby," Stephanie said, accepting the microphone from Jericho. "What can I say? I have a soft spot for sexy men. Of course, my former spouse is no indication of that. But I really can't stop thinking about Jericho, all of the time."  
  
"Oh, those feelings are returned Stephanie," Jericho said. He went to stand next to her, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Oh, if Triple H wants to come out here and say my wife can't accompany me ringside, I would tell him to take a look at my contract. My wife is more than welcome to be my manager."  
  
Suddenly Kurt's music blared throughout the arena. Kurt was greeted by a mixed reaction. "What the hell is this?" he asked, his blue eyes furious.  
  
"Shut up Kirk," Jericho said.  
  
"My name is Kurt," Kurt said. "And you can't expect me to believe that you and Stephanie actually care about each other!"  
  
"We don't care about each other," Stephanie said, taking the microphone again. "We more than care about each other. We love each other."  
  
"That's a load of crap!" Kurt exclaimed.  
  
"What's wrong Kurt?" Jericho asked. "It's not that hard to believe that we could be in love. I mean, for years we exchanged insults, somewhat in the manner of schoolchildren. And then we've kissed a few times. And when we became business partners, everything just became clear for us."  
  
"I don't believe you," Kurt said, before charging down towards the ring. Jericho gently shoved Stephanie away from himself and motioned for her to get out of the ring.  
  
Jericho grunted as Kurt landed a spear on him. He tried to fight against the blows that Angle was laying into him, but the initial spear had really sent him for a loop.  
  
Suddenly, Kurt was no longer on top of him. Jericho looked up to see Stephanie dropping a steel chair as she kneeled next to him.  
  
"You okay?" Stephanie asked, concern evident in her clear blue eyes.  
  
"Yeah, yeah," Jericho said, nodding as he began to rise to his feet. "Thanks."  
  
"Sure," Stephanie said, blushing.  
  
"You're really cute when you blush," Jericho said impulsively.  
  
"I'm not blushing," Stephanie said.  
  
"Sure," Jericho replied. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her. He pulled away and was greeted with warm lips upon his own. He returned Stephanie's tentative kiss.  
  
"We better get out of here before Angel comes too," Jericho said, motioning toward the unconscious Angle. "You really knocked the hell out of him."  
  
"He was messing with my husband," Stephanie shrugged. He grinned and helped her out of the ring. They walked up the ramp, arms wrapped around each other's waist.  
  
*  
  
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" an irate Hunter demanded when Jericho and Stephanie stepped backstage.  
  
"What are you talking about Hunter?" Stephanie asked innocently.  
  
"I mean, you can't marry him," Hunter said.  
  
"I'm already married to him," Stephanie said, looking critically at her ex- husband. "And why would you care anyways?"  
  
"I don't care," Hunter said, his face turning red.  
  
"I think you care," Jericho said. "But you better stay the hell away from my wife or I swear to God I will rip your balls out."  
  
"You might want to rip out something bigger," Stephanie said casually. She held up her hand, indicating how small his testacles were. "They are about the size of grapes."  
  
Jericho grinned. "Okay, I'll rip off your nose you bastard."  
  
"I'm going to talk to Flair," Hunter said. "She can't get out of that stipulation."  
  
"Go ahead and try," Jericho said. "But stay away from us. The only place I want to see you is in the ring when I take that belt from you."  
  
"Over my dad body," Hunter said.  
  
"That can be arranged," Stephanie said.  
  
"Lets get out of here," Jericho said to Stephanie. "No one interesting around."  
  
"I agree," Stephanie said, sending one last scathing look towards her ex- husband. 


	8. Explaining Affairs

Vince sat in his dressing room, staring blankly at the monitor in front of him. He hadn't really comprehended anything after his daughter had revealed that she was married. Again.  
  
In his opinion she was too young to have been married the first time, let alone a second time. She should be a single, carefree young woman who was enjoying life. Yet she had attached herself to another man.  
  
"You hear that?" Stacey asked as she came into Vince's dressing room. Vince looked up at the woman. Yes, she was attractive but he wasn't going to have another affair with one of the Divas. He had gone there one too many times. And Linda wouldn't forgive him again.  
  
"Huh?" Vince asked, knowing perfectly well what Stacey had asked him.  
  
"You're daughter and Jericho," Stacey said, pointing to a replay of Angle getting hit over the head with a steel chair by Stephanie. "That's just bizarre."  
  
"Bizarre?" Vince asked.  
  
"Well, they didn't really get along until fairly recently," Stacey said. "And neither of them seem particularly loveable to me."  
  
"Stephanie is perfectly loveable," Vince protested. "You just don't know her very well. But I can't say anything about Jericho."  
  
"I don't know that you know Stephanie so well either Vince," Stacey said.  
  
"What in the hell does that mean?" Vince asked. His tone was angry and he winced because he knew Stacey was right.  
  
"Did you even know she was married before tonight?" Stacey asked.  
  
"I didn't even know she was officially divorced," Vince said miserably.  
  
"Interesting," Stacey said.  
  
There was a knock on the door before it opened to show Stephanie and Jericho standing in the doorway. "Hey Daddy."  
  
"Hello Stephanie," Vince said, standing up to walk to the monitor, farther away from the door. Stacey shifted uneasily. "Why don't you go ahead and let me talk to Stephanie and Jericho?"  
  
"Sure Mr. McMahon," Stacey said before quickly exiting the room.  
  
Stephanie waited before the door had closed behind Stacey to walk over to her father. "So, did you hear the news?"  
  
Stephanie smiled weakly at Vince. He smiled sadly at her. "Sure did."  
  
"I think it's for the best," Stephanie said, reaching out her hand toward Chris. He quickly took it in his hands. "Chris and I are…close."  
  
"I don't buy that," Vince said.  
  
"What's to buy?" Chris asked, his voice slightly agitated.  
  
"You two don't like each other," Vince said. "You never have liked each other. You don't trust each other. There must be some kind of ploy behind this marriage, if you're even really married."  
  
"We have a marriage certificate to prove it," Stephanie said. "And pictures."  
  
"Where? When?" Vince asked, drawing a hand through his hair.  
  
"Last Friday, Greenwich City Hall," Stephanie answered.  
  
"You were married on Friday?" Vince asked in shock. "You didn't tell me sooner than this? What the hell were you two thinking about?"  
  
"We wanted it to be a surprise," Stephanie said. "We didn't want to leak out before we were ready to tell the world."  
  
"Which only serves to prove what I thought," Vince said. "What is the real motivation behind this marriage?"  
  
"Mr. McMahon. Vince. I've been in love with your daughter from the first moment I saw her," Jericho said, stepping forward and looking Vince in the eyes. "I know I acted like some pathetic schoolboy, but I was desperate to get her attention. By some miracle, she returns my feelings in some way. I'm not going to question that. If that's not enough for you then I don't know what will be."  
  
Vince looked Jericho in the eyes and saw something that looked like sincerity in them. It shocked him, but it seemed like Jericho was telling the truth.  
  
"Well, there's not much I can do about it now," Vince shrugged. "And I'd rather not lose my daughter again because of the man she married. So, welcome to the family."  
  
"Thank you Daddy," Stephanie said, beaming at her father.  
  
"He makes you happy?" Vince asked, still uncertain about the marriage.  
  
"He really does Daddy," Stephanie said, her blue eyes shining.  
  
"Okay," Vince said. He looked at Jericho again. "But if you ever hurt my daughter I will make you live to regret it."  
  
"I look forward to it," Jericho said. "Because I want to regret the day I ever hurt Stephanie."  
  
"That's good to hear," Vince said. "So, should I throw a party or something?"  
  
"I think we're fine without it," Stephanie said. "Now, Jericho has to go get ready for his match. I'll talk to you later."  
  
"Okay," Vince said. "Good luck."  
  
Stephanie plopped down on the couch in Jericho's dressing room a few moments later. She heaved a sigh of relief. "I'm glad that's over. You were amazing."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Jericho asked, pulling his wrestling gear from his bag.  
  
"With my dad," Stephanie said, sitting up straight. "You almost had me convinced that you had been in love with me for nearly three years."  
  
"Then I imagine your dad is really convinced," Jericho remarked, turning from Stephanie to hide the pain in his eyes. He had really put his emotions out there for Vince. And Stephanie still couldn't see how much he cared about her. It was probably better that way.  
  
"Probably," Stephanie remarked.  
  
"I'm going to go into the bathroom to get ready," Jericho said.  
  
"Take your time," Stephanie called behind him.  
  
*  
  
"She cannot come back to the WWF!" Hunter exclaimed, slamming his hands against the polished oak desk that was the centerpiece of Ric Flair's office.  
  
"I would love to be able to tell you that you're right," Flair said. "But Jericho does have the stipulation in his contract that his wife is allowed to be his manager."  
  
"It's almost like the bastard planned for this," Hunter growled, pacing Flair's office.  
  
"Doubtful," Flair said. "Actually, The Rock and Austin have these clauses in their contracts too. It's an added benefit I guess."  
  
"What about me?" Hunter asked.  
  
"You didn't have it written into your contract because you weren't married at the time and I guess you and Stephanie never saw the need to change it," Flair shrugged.  
  
"This pisses me off," Hunter said. "Those two are going to do everything they can to make sure I'm miserable."  
  
"Maybe they really love each other," Flair offered.  
  
"Stephanie doesn't love anyone," Hunter said, his voice sounding almost broken.  
  
"Is that the reason you divorced her?" Flair asked.  
  
"No," Hunter said quickly. "I divorced her because she's a lying, manipulative bitch. Hell, she probably deserves Jericho."  
  
Flair laughed under his breath. "They are both pretty big drama queens."  
  
"Well, I guess I could try to make her life so miserable that she feels compelled to leave on her own," Hunter said.  
  
"Even with her husband in the WWF still?" Flair asked.  
  
"You just have to scare her," Hunter said.  
  
"Scare her?" Flair asked uncertainly.  
  
"There are ways," Hunter said darkly. 


	9. Old Wounds

"You two were funny on SmackDown," Lita said, hanging her feet over the side of the recliner in Stephanie's living room. "I thought Kurt might blow a gasket."  
  
Stephanie looked up from her seat at the small table near the window over at Lita. Lita was watching TV with Chris. He was stretched across the couch.  
  
"I thought it was pretty great myself," Chris said. "But you should have seen Stephanie put Hunter in his place. The man was nearly purple when she said he had testicles the size of grapes."  
  
Lita thought for a moment and then began to laugh. "That just sounds hilarious."  
  
"It was," Jericho said. He turned to look at Stephanie and caught her staring at them. "Are we bothering you Steph?"  
  
"No, no," Stephanie said, closing the folder full of financial information on the company, she stood up and walked over to the couch Jericho was on and sat near the edge. He moved his legs to giver her a little more room. "It's nice to hear laughter in here again. I haven't heard that in here since…before Invasion."  
  
"Wow," Lita said. "So, is this your house or Hunter's?"  
  
"This is mine," Stephanie said. "Actually, Hunter hated this house. It was too small for him. I lived here right after I moved out of my parents. My dad really didn't want me to move far away so I found this."  
  
"It's nice," Lita said.  
  
"Thanks," Stephanie said.  
  
Everyone's head turned at the ringing of the doorbell. "Who's that?" Chris asked.  
  
"I have no idea," Stephanie said. They had told Lita she could come over for the weekend when they found out she and Matt had had a fight. Stephanie stood up to go answer the door.  
  
Jericho got up and followed her into the entry way just in case it was someone trying to make trouble for them. Stephanie looked over at him and opened the door. She was suddenly engulfed in a bear hug.  
  
She looked up and smiled. "Shane."  
  
"Hey Stephanie," Shane said, grinning down at her. "Long time no see."  
  
"Yeah," Stephanie said. "I'm sorry about-"  
  
"Don't worry about it," Shane said. "I know you were just confused and scared. But I had to come over when I heard the news."  
  
"You live in New York now," Stephanie said. "It's not like you just crossed town to get here."  
  
"I know," Shane shrugged. He looked up and met the icy blue eyes of Chris Jericho. "Hi Chris."  
  
"Hi Shane," Chris said, not moving.  
  
"So you two are really married?" Shane asked.  
  
"Yeah," Stephanie said, walking over to put an arm around Jericho's waist. "We really are. Lets go sit down."  
  
They got back in the living room and Lita was sitting on the edge of the chair, looking rather nervous.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Shane asked in shock.  
  
"Hey Shane," Lita said meekly.  
  
"She's my cousin," Jericho said from behind Shane.  
  
"You never told me?" Shane asked Lita in shock.  
  
"I haven't told anyone," Lita said. "Well, except Matt and Jeff. And now Stephanie."  
  
Shane's expression visibly darkened. "I should have known."  
  
Lita wriggled uncomfortably. Stephanie and Jericho looked very confused. "What the hell was that about?" Stephanie asked. "You guys act like you're close or something."  
  
"We were close," Shane said, never taking his eyes off of Lita."  
  
"Doubtful," Jericho noted with derision.  
  
"We were Chris," Lita said. "We were seeing each other. We started right after all of that crap with Essa."  
  
"And we ended when she choose Matt," Shane said. He finally sat in a chair and looked up at Stephanie. "So tell me about the ceremony."  
  
*  
  
"You okay Lita," Stephanie said, stepping out onto the backyard patio and sitting into the chair next to Lita later that night.  
  
"I'm fine," Lita said coolly.  
  
"I didn't know he was coming," Stephanie said. "And I really didn't know you two had a past. I'm sorry if he makes you uncomfortable."  
  
"It's not that," Lita sighed. "I just wonder what life would be like right now if I had chosen differently."  
  
"Probably everything," Stephanie acknowledged. "What happened, if you don't mind me asking?"  
  
"It started the night Essa attacked me," Lita said. "I was in the middle of a crying jag at the elevator in the hotel and Shane comforted me and one thing led to another."  
  
"You can leave that part right there," Stephanie said.  
  
"I will," Lita said. "Anyways, it was wonderful. We were together for several months. Shane was great."  
  
"So what happened?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"Shane asked me to make everything public when Dean was being a psycho- stalker," Lita said. "And Matt kissed me."  
  
"Do you love Matt?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"Yeah," Lita said. "I do love him. But it's so different. The big problem was that I couldn't see myself being with Shane for everyone to see. We are so different."  
  
"Different can be good," Stephanie said.  
  
"For you Stephanie," Lita said. "I couldn't stand to have people point at Shane and I liked we were freaks or something."  
  
"And now?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"Now I'm with Matt," Lita shrugged.  
  
"Are you really?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lita asked.  
  
"It means that for the past two weekends you've been with Chris and I," Stephanie said. "Is everything alright between you and Matt."  
  
"I don't know," Lita sighed. "At times it's perfect and I could see myself spending my life with him. But sometimes he just becomes so distant and I wonder if I made the wrong choice."  
  
"I understand," Stephanie said. "Sometimes I wonder if I would have been better off if I had never turned on Daddy."  
  
"Did you love Hunter?" Lita asked.  
  
"I don't know," Stephanie said. "I thought I did, but when I look back on it everything seems so confused."  
  
"Maybe it's a good thing you ended up broken up," Lita shrugged.  
  
"I would agree with that," Stephanie said. "Hunter and I just didn't belong together at all."  
  
"We'll both figure it out someday," Lita said.  
  
"I don't believe it," Stephanie said in shock.  
  
"What?" Lita asked.  
  
"We just had a civil conversation with no outside motivation or anything," Stephanie said. "I think it's a miracle."  
  
"You may be right," Lita said, smiling over at Stephanie.  
  
"Away from the WWF you aren't so bad Lita," Stephanie said.  
  
"Same with you," Lita said.  
  
*  
  
"So you and Lita talked for awhile," Jericho said later that night as he began to spread out a sheet on the floor of Stephanie's bedroom.  
  
"Yeah," Stephanie said, walking into the room from her bathroom in cotton pajama pants and a huge t-shirt. "What are you doing?"  
  
"Making a bed on the floor," Jericho said.  
  
"You don't need to do that," Stephanie said. "My bed is king-sized and we can both fit without touching each other."  
  
"It's okay," Jericho said.  
  
"I trust you not to molest me in my sleep," Stephanie said.  
  
"And what if I don't trust you?" Jericho countered.  
  
"I promise not to attack you in your sleep," Stephanie said.  
  
"Deal," Jericho said, plopping onto Stephanie's bed. 


	10. Strange Relations

"You've got to be kidding," Stephanie said, giggling at the tidbit of information she had been given.  
  
"I kid you not," Jericho said, smiling. "You get Benoit drunk and the only thing he wants to do is sing karaoke."  
  
"That's too funny," Stephanie said, imagining an inebriated Chris Benoit singing 'Girl's Just Want to Have Fun.'  
  
"You have to see it one of these days," Jericho said. He walked over to his bag and grabbed his tights. "Unfortunately, I really don't want to be his opponent in his first big match back."  
  
"I can understand that," Stephanie nodded. "You guys are friends."  
  
"Of sorts," Jericho shrugged. "He's going to be ready to kill someone though."  
  
"That's how Hunter was when he came back," Stephanie said. "He wanted to prove all of the people who told him he shouldn't wrestle that he could still be the best."  
  
"Do you miss him?" Jericho asked.  
  
"Hunter?" Stephanie asked. "No, not really."  
  
"Not at all?" Jericho asked.  
  
"Well, you don't need to hear about when I do miss him," Stephanie said, bowing her head to hide her blush.  
  
"Are you missing the carnal side of your marriage?" Jericho asked with a touch of amusement.  
  
"Carnal?" Stephanie asked, dissolving into giggles.  
  
"I was trying to think of a polite word," Jericho said.  
  
"Well, yes, just a little," Stephanie shrugged. "I'm human."  
  
"You know it won't hurt my feelings if you decided you wanted to sleep with someone," Jericho said as he walked to the bathroom to change into his ring wear. "If you have an itch to scratch."  
  
"Thanks for that," Stephanie said. "But I've never been unfaithful before, I have no intention of starting now."  
  
"It's not like this is a real marriage," Jericho pointed out, secretly pleased that she wouldn't be sleeping with someone else.  
  
"I know," Stephanie said. "But, I don't know. Adultery ruins lives. My family is a testament to that."  
  
"I guess Vince is a randy goat," Jericho said.  
  
Stephanie dissolved into another round of giggles. "Yeah, he can be."  
  
"Not me," Jericho said. "I can be celibate if you can."  
  
"You sure about that?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"We can make a bet if you would like," Jericho said.  
  
"That's okay," Stephanie said.  
  
Jericho emerged from the bathroom with a pair of red tights on. He sat down to put his boots on. Stephanie looked at him and felt her heart skip a beat. He was gorgeous. She really couldn't deny that she was very attracted to him.  
  
Jericho looked up and caught Stephanie looking at him rather intensely. "What?"  
  
"Oh, nothing," Stephanie said, shaking her head as she looked away.  
  
"You sure?" Jericho asked.  
  
"Yeah, positive," Stephanie said.  
  
"You coming to ringside tonight?" Jericho asked.  
  
"Of course," Stephanie said. "You're my husband."  
  
Jericho smiled at how easily those words came out of Stephanie's mouth. "That's true."  
  
"Do you not want me down there?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"Of course I want you out there," Jericho said. "You're my wife."  
  
"Sure enough," Stephanie said. "And you love that, don't you?"  
  
"You know it," Jericho said. He smiled cheekily at her. He had never imagined that they would be able to get along so well. He could honestly say that in the two months since he had initially approached her about marrying him they had really become close. "Couldn't ask for a better wife."  
  
"Ditto," Stephanie said. As soon as she said that she thought of "Ghost," one of her favorite movies. Patrick Swayze's character always said "ditto" when his wife told him that she love him. She wondered if she was imagining that anything romantic could happen between herself and Chris Jericho. She shook her head at the thought.  
  
"Can you not…help me in this match?" Jericho asked. "I still want you at ringside, I just don't want to taint his first match back."  
  
Stephanie smiled softly. "Sure."  
  
She liked that about him. He pretended to be tough and he put on an over- inflated ego, but deep down he was a caring person. She had seen it first in the way he was with his parents. He really cared about what they thought and he always tried to assuage any fears that they had.  
  
She had also seen it in the way he treated Lita. He really knew her and he tried to make her happy as best he could. And she saw the way he looked at her when she wasn't looking, with eyes full of brotherly concern. It was a lot like her relationship with Shane.  
  
And now with Benoit. She wished he would treat her with that concern. But he did treat her with that concern. His whole life seemed to be about helping her to get on her feet and make Hunter live to regret the day he had hurt her.  
  
"You're amazing," Stephanie said softly.  
  
"What?" Jericho asked, his head swiveling toward her with a look of shock plain on his face.  
  
"You care so much about people and you really try to hide it," Stephanie said. "But you really can't hide the goodness inside of you when you get close to people."  
  
"Okay," Jericho said.  
  
"It's a compliment," Stephanie assured him.  
  
"Thanks," Jericho said. "You're actually a pretty good person deep down too."  
  
"What makes you say that?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"The way you are with Shane," Jericho said. "You two are just really good friends. And when you went to talk to Lita when she obviously needed to talk to someone."  
  
"I don't think that makes me a good person," Stephanie said.  
  
"You may do messed up things Stephanie," Jericho said. "Hell, I do messed up things. But you don't do them for no reason at all. That makes a difference."  
  
"I guess so," Stephanie said uncertainly.  
  
"It does," Jericho said.  
  
"Thanks," Stephanie said.  
  
"You ready to go?" Jericho asked her, holding his hand out to her to help her up.  
  
"Sure," Stephanie said, taking his hand.  
  
Stephanie liked holding hands with Chris Jericho. He made her feel safe and he made her feel special. He always made her feel like she was his top priority. She hadn't felt important in a long time.  
  
He was really so different from what she had expected. She had thought their marriage would eventually degrade into bickering and hatred. But it seemed to get better every day. And she finally had someone to talk to. She finally had a friend.  
  
Sometimes she thought about asking Jericho if he could ever be attracted to her. He acted like he was. But it was just so hard to believe. But sometimes she wished he would. Sometimes she wished she knew how to get closer to him.  
  
Jericho helped her into the ring before he posed on the ropes. Her heart seemed to fill with pride. He turned back into the ring and she walked to him. She pulled him close and covered his lips with a kiss.  
  
"For luck," Stephanie whispered as she pulled away.  
  
"I could use those more often," Jericho said, shock still in his eyes.  
  
"I'll see what I can do about that," Stephanie said. "Have fun."  
  
Jericho followed her with his eyes as she got out of the ring. She was a confusing woman. At times like that he could swear that she wanted more out of their relationship, but most of the time she just seemed content with friendship.  
  
He shook his head as he tried to focus on the match at hand. 


	11. Never Enough

"Hey," Lita said, coming into Matt and Jeff's dressing room.  
  
"Hey, she's here," Matt said, rather glumly.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lita asked, looking in Matt's direction. "I'm always here for matches."  
  
"I just meant in my general vicinity," Matt said, standing up.  
  
"What the hell are you talking about?" Lita asked, hating the hurt look in Matt's face and knowing she deserved it.  
  
"I've invited you to come home with me and Jeff for the past three weeks and you always say you're busy," Matt said. "You never want to go out anymore. Hell, you don't even seem to want to share a bed with me anymore."  
  
"Can we not do this in front of Jeff?" Jeff asked, standing up and covering his ears. "He would really appreciate not hearing about your sex life."  
  
"We've got a match anyways," Matt said.  
  
"Okay," Lita nodded. "Lets go."  
  
"You sure you want to be within twenty feet of me for much longer?" Matt asked.  
  
"Don't be a jerk Matt," Lita said. "We'll talk about this later."  
  
"That might entail you admitting that I exist," Matt said snidely.  
  
"Which might not happen if you don't grow up," Lita said, walking out of the room in front of Matt.  
  
"What the hell is this all about?" Jeff asked his brother as they watched Lita walk several steps ahead of them down the hall.  
  
"She doesn't want to be with me anymore," Matt said.  
  
"Dude, she loves you," Jeff said. "She came back to you after you broke up with her on national television."  
  
"All I had to do was get a crushed windpipe," Matt said.  
  
"Don't talk like that," Jeff said. "I know you love her. Don't throw her away."  
  
"She's the one throwing our relationship away," Matt said. "I'm actually making the effort. But she would rather spend the weekend with her cousin who's an ass and his wife who we both know she hates."  
  
"Maybe she has her reasons," Jeff reasoned. "I just don't want to see you two fall apart because she has too much on her plate."  
  
"I could help her if that was the case," Matt said. "She doesn't want help. She wants to save the world."  
  
"Are you going to be okay to wrestle?" Jeff asked.  
  
"Yeah," Matt said, sending one last look Lita's way before they ran out to the ramp.  
  
*  
  
Lita sat next to the bed in the sterile hospital room. She looked at Matt's unconscious figure on the bed in front of her. Jeff was on the other side of the bed, still in his wrestling attire.  
  
Matt's eyes fluttered open.  
  
"Matt!" Lita whispered as she stood up and leaned on the edge of his bed. "How do you feel sweetie?"  
  
"What…what happened?" Matt asked, his vision blurry.  
  
"You got a concussion when Booker slammed you into the stairs," Lita said, running a gentle hand down the side of his face. "And I couldn't get to you because Heyman was blocking any path I could have. And Lesnar had Jeff inside of the ring."  
  
"A concussion doesn't send you to the hospital," Matt said. "What else?"  
  
"Booker broke three of your ribs," Lita said. "Your lung collapsed."  
  
Jeff sat up and reached his hand out to Matt. "You okay man?"  
  
"I think so," Matt said. "How long?"  
  
"You were out about three hours," Lita said, deliberately misunderstanding.  
  
"You know what I meant," Matt said.  
  
"Doctor said a month at the least, probably more like two," Lita said.  
  
"Damn!" Matt whispered, his voice anguished.  
  
"It will be okay Matt," Lita said.  
  
"You can't know how it's going to be," Matt said. "You and Jeff will be on the road and I'll be stuck at home watching."  
  
"You can come on the road," Lita said.  
  
"That's worse," Matt said. "Then you're there and you just aren't allowed to do the thing you love to do."  
  
"I can stay with you," Lita offered.  
  
"You have a contract," Matt said.  
  
"I don't care," Lita said, looking straight into Matt's eyes.  
  
"Why?" Matt asked. Neither of them noticed Jeff slip out of the room.  
  
"Because I care about you Matt," Lita said, taking his hand in hers. "I mean, I love you. I've loved you for awhile."  
  
"You loved Shane first," Matt said.  
  
"What?" Lita asked.  
  
"I knew about you and Shane before we ever became involved," Matt said. "I knew that you loved him."  
  
"Then, why did you kiss me?" Lita asked, feeling suddenly confused and almost betrayed.  
  
"Because I saw something in your eyes that said you weren't happy," Matt said. "You're normally so honest, but you and Shane kept everything so quiet. But I loved you. I loved you so much."  
  
"Loved?" Lita asked.  
  
"I'll always love you Lita," Matt said, taking her hand in his. "But I wanted to let you know that I knew. I always knew."  
  
"I chose you," Lita said.  
  
"Do you ever regret it?" Matt asked. She could see in his eyes what he needed to hear. And she knew it wasn't the truth.  
  
"I wonder what would be different, yes," Lita said. "But I don't regret it Matt. You and I are so suited for each other. I probably would have gone crazy if I had stayed with Shane."  
  
"Thank you," Matt said. "I know things have been strange between us for awhile. But you are one of the most important people in my life Lita."  
  
"You're important to me too," Lita said, squeezing Matt's hand. "And I do love you. I know it can be hard to have a relationship anymore, but I do love you. I probably always will love you."  
  
Matt smiled. "I can't believe I was so distracted during the match."  
  
"I'm sorry," Lita said. "I know I had a lot to do with that. I know better than to let you go out to a match anything but focused."  
  
"Don't blame yourself," Matt said.  
  
"It's hard not to," Lita said.  
  
"How are Jericho and his bride from hell?" Matt asked.  
  
"You'd be surprised," Lita said. "Her and Chris get along so well and I really kind of like being around the both of them."  
  
"That's good," Matt said. "Jericho, well, I would've said he deserved to be happy. But he and I aren't exactly friends anymore."  
  
"He's still the same deep down," Lita said. "And he still cares about you. You were best friends for awhile there."  
  
"Because of you," Matt said. "You were what held everything together."  
  
"I was still here," Lita said. "Chris just had to do what he had to do. He was the first Undisputed Champion. He never went after you until we deliberately provoked him."  
  
"That's true," Matt said.  
  
"Maybe we should visit them while we're out," Lita said.  
  
"You should stay on the road," Matt said. "You were already out for so long after the number Taker did on us all."  
  
"You sure baby?" Lita asked.  
  
"No," Matt said. "But I trust you and I know you'll be with me when you can."  
  
"Thank you," Lita said, pledging to herself that she would be a better girlfriend than she had been of late. 


	12. Thundering Rage

*** I meant to post this the first time. Thanks to bannonluke for pointing out that I hadn't posted it. This chapter contains very explicit violence. To those of you who have already read this and been disturbed I'm sorry. If you want to skip this chapter you can…the next chapter will recap this scene without the explicitness. This chapter contains violence against women and attempted sexual abuse. Sorry again. ***  
  
Stephanie blew lightly on the nails she had just painted blood red to match the patent leather pants Jericho was going to wear into the ring that night. She smiled as she thought about how much fun they had planning what to wear.  
  
Jericho had actually picked her outfit. She was wearing a black leather halter top and black leather pants that rode low on her hips her. Her hair was straight and she had a leather golfers hat that she was going to put on.  
  
Jericho was out getting her a Big Mac from McDonald's. She had been having a major craving and she wasn't near ready. He had graciously offered to go get food for her. She hummed happily as she thought about her husband who was probably her best friend in the entire world.  
  
The door creaked open and Stephanie giggled, "Took you long enough Chris."  
  
"It's not Chris," a growling voice said from the doorway.  
  
Stephanie looked up and her blue eyes filled with horror. "Hunter!"  
  
"That's right bitch," Hunter said.  
  
"What are you doing in here?" Stephanie asked, stumbling out of her chair. "I mean, this is mine and Chris' room."  
  
"Isn't it all so cozy?" Hunter asked, walking slowly towards her.  
  
"I don't know if you were watching to see when Chris left or whatever Hunter," Stephanie said, "but you should leave now because he's going to be back soon."  
  
"Do I scare you?" Hunter asked menacingly.  
  
"No," Stephanie said, but the quiver in her voice betrayed her.  
  
Hunter smiled in cruel satisfaction. "I always did scare you. I could tell when we got married that you were frightened about how you might fare in my home."  
  
"Hunter, please," Stephanie said, backed up against the wall. "Just leave me alone."  
  
"It's not that simple Stephanie," Hunter said. "I gave us the opportunity to move on with our lives when you were forced to leave the WWF. But you had to go and ruin that."  
  
"What's the matter Hunter?" Stephanie asked. "Are you just angry that you lost whatever ability you used to have to manipulate the situation to your favor. Does it make you mad that I can outplay you?"  
  
"Little girl," Hunter said. "You have no idea."  
  
"You don't scare me," Stephanie said, thinking a show of bravado would make him leave the room. She had no idea how long it would take Chris to get back.  
  
"I should," Hunter said.  
  
Stephanie didn't see Hunter's hand dart out and tangle in her hair. She did feel him pull her violently toward him. She felt herself crash against him. His mouth assaulted her mouth. She was in shock and she couldn't move.  
  
Suddenly her brain came out of the haze that had enveloped her when Hunter had grabbed ahold of her. She felt his tongue pushing against her pursed lips. She opened her mouth and bit down on his tongue with all of her might.  
  
Hunter pulled back and yelled, "You fucking bitch!"  
  
Stephanie tried to get away from him but he grabbed her arm with one hand and hit her across the face with the other. Stephanie staggered, but Hunter held her upright. Her cheek felt like it was on fire where his hand had connected with her skin.  
  
"You want to bite me Stephanie?" Hunter asked, his voice low with fury.  
  
"Get away from me you asshole," Stephanie said, outraged that Hunter dare put his hands on her. "You're pathetic!"  
  
Hunter's eyes went wide with rage and he hit her across the face. Then he buried a fist in her gut. Stephanie felt like her eye was going to explode and she couldn't breathe. She fell to the ground when Hunter finally let go of her hand.  
  
He kicked her once in the abdomen and her arms quickly moved to protect herself. "You just think you're so special Stephanie."  
  
"Please, just leave," Stephanie whispered harshly.  
  
"What's that Stephanie?" Hunter asked.  
  
"Please go," Stephanie said, dismayed to feel the tears in her eyes. She felt so vulnerable lying on the floor. Her cell phone was across the room and there was no way Hunter would just let her crawl over so she could get ahold of her husband.  
  
"Why don't you beg?" Hunter asked.  
  
"No," Stephanie said, not willing to degrade herself for this man. Chris would be back eventually. "My husband will kill you."  
  
"You're husband thinks you're a no-good slut like everyone else in this federation Stephanie," Hunter said. "No one actually likes you."  
  
"Stop it," Stephanie said, choking on her tears. "Chris cares about me!"  
  
"Does he really?" Hunter asked. "You think he was just playing when he called you names, when he put you in the Walls?"  
  
"You don't know him," Stephanie cried.  
  
"And you think you do?" Hunter asked. "You didn't know me and you were married to me for two years. I bet you didn't think I was capable of this, did you?"  
  
Suddenly he was kneeling down next to her. He pinned her shoulders to the ground. His hands were wrapped around her neck. Her eyes went wide. Her hands flew to the hands around her neck and she clawed at his huge hands.  
  
Hunter smiled at the blue eyes that were wide with fear. "Don't worry," he said, releasing her neck. "I won't kill you."  
  
Stephanie gulped in the air. She tried to move, but he wouldn't let her. "Please, just let me go."  
  
"Not yet," Hunter said.  
  
Stephanie felt her stomach drop as she heard the distinctive sound of a zipper being undone. "No, please don't Hunter."  
  
"You know you want this Stephanie," Hunter said.  
  
"No!" Stephanie yelled, trying desperately to move away from him. "Please stop! Help me!"  
  
"Who would help a slut like you?" Hunter asked, his hand starting to work on the zipper of her leather pants. "You're getting what you deserve."  
  
"Help!" Stephanie cried again.  
  
*  
  
Chris felt his heart jump with fear when he heard Stephanie's cries from down the hall. Why the hell was no one else helping her? He raced down the hall and opened the door to see Hunter on top of his wife.  
  
He went red with rage. He flew to Hunter and dragged him off of Stephanie. "You fucking bastard!"  
  
Chris slammed Hunter up against the wall and began to lay hard punches into the man. He didn't even realize that he had hit the man so much, so hard that he wasn't able to defend himself.  
  
He felt himself being pulled away from Hunter. He saw him slump to the floor. He felt some of his rage subside.  
  
"What the hell happened?" Chris Benoit asked, restraining Chris on one side. He hadn't even realized that they had come into the room.  
  
"Stephanie," Jericho said, shaking Benoit and Kurt Angle off of him. He went to his wife, who was curled up in the corner of the room.  
  
"Baby," he whispered as he kneeled down next to her. "Are you okay?"  
  
"Chris?" Stephanie asked, looking up into the blue eyes that had become so familiar to her. She breathed a ragged sigh of relief.  
  
He wrapped his arms around her and he lifted her off of the ground. He looked over to the other side of the room where Benoit was checking on Hunter. "Would you please get that asshole out of my wife's dressing room?"  
  
Benoit was about to protest that he had knocked the man unconscious, but he recognized the protective tone in Jericho's voice. He simply nodded. He looked over at Angle and the Olympian nodded and helped Benoit lift the man. They took him to the trainer.  
  
Chris sat on the couch and sat Stephanie on his lap. Her arms were wrapped tightly around his neck. He felt silent sobs wrack her body.  
  
"Shh, shh," Chris whispered. "It's okay. I'm here baby."  
  
"I was so afraid," Stephanie whispered, her breath warm on his shoulder. "I didn't know when you would get back. Hunter said, he said…"  
  
"What did he say baby?" Chris asked, running a hand up and down her back.  
  
"That you didn't care about me," Stephanie said between tears. "That you still thought I was a slut."  
  
"Jesus," Chris said. "Hunter is a bastard Stephanie. I don't think you are a slut. I think you are amazing. And I'm not going to let you out of my sight anytime soon."  
  
"What the hell did you do to Hunter?" Vince exclaimed as he stormed into the dressing room. Stephanie clung tighter to Chris.  
  
"That bastard tried to rape your daughter," Chris said, barely controlling the rage in his voice. He needed to stay calm for Stephanie. "He didn't even get what he deserved."  
  
"Stephanie?" Vince asked, his face suddenly concerned as he looked at Stephanie's form, rolled tight in Chris' lap. "Sweetie, are you okay?"  
  
Stephanie finally looked up, wiping tears off of her cheeks. "I'm okay."  
  
"No you aren't," Chris said, looking intently at the tiny bruises that were beginning to show around her neck. "He was strangling you."  
  
"He's going to jail," Vince said, determination in his voice.  
  
"No Daddy," Stephanie said. "Don't. I don't want people to know. And Chris nearly killed him. I think if I agree not to press charges he won't send the cops after Chris."  
  
"Steph, he should be punished," Chris said.  
  
"But you shouldn't," Stephanie said. She looked over to her father and then something red on the floor caught her eyes. Tears filled her eyes again, she turned and smiled shakily at Chris. "You got me flowers."  
  
"I'm your husband," Chris said. "I'm allowed."  
  
"You're my hero," Stephanie said, lightly touching her lips to his. "Thank you for saving me." 


	13. Safe Harbor

Stephanie felt a warm, ragged breath against her cheek. She tried desperately to move away from it, but no matter how much she flailed away, the breath persisted.  
  
"You think you can get away from me?" the voice asked.  
  
"Hunter, no!" Stephanie whimpered, struggling against the hands that seemed to keep her helpless. "Let me go!"  
  
"You'll never be rid of me," the voice said, rather gleefully. "You should have left when I gave you the chance."  
  
"No, don't hurt me," Stephanie said. He head flailed on her pillow.  
  
She awoke with a start. It was hard to orient herself in the dark room. In her mind she could still hear Hunter's breath, ragged and persistent.  
  
It had been three nights. The first night Chris had kept her up all night long watching lame comedies. The next night she had been so tired from a lack of sleep that she had fallen into a dreamless sleep.  
  
But she had dreamt this night. It was horrifying not being able to escape, to feel trap. It might have been easier the night before because Jericho had been on the couch in their hotel suite.  
  
Now they were at home and Jericho was all the way down the hall in the room that was now his. He had slept with her only on the night when Shane had stayed with them.  
  
She laid back down, trying to calm herself. Every time she closed her eyes she could feel the breath on her cheek, her it.  
  
She bolted upright again and got out of bed. She would go watch TV downstairs until she fell into a blessedly dreamless sleep.  
  
She heard the heavy breathing in Chris' room. She stopped at the doorway and looked in on him. The curtains were blowing from the light breeze and a touch of moonlight illuminated him in the bed.  
  
He looked so peaceful. It was nice for a change. He had been so full of rage since Hunter had attacked her. She loved that he was so protective of her. She breathed a light sigh as she leaned against the doorframe, unable to tear her eyes away from him.  
  
He moved in the bed and sat up. "Steph?"  
  
"Sorry," Stephanie said. "I didn't mean to wake you."  
  
"It's fine," Chris said. "What happened?"  
  
"It was nothing," Stephanie said. "I'm just going to go make some tea."  
  
"Why can't you sleep Stephanie?" Chris asked, hearing the quiver in her voice.  
  
"I just had a dream," Stephanie said. "It was no big deal."  
  
"I swear I'm going to kill that man for laying a hand on you," Chris said.  
  
"Don't Chris," Stephanie said, walking across the room to him. "It's over. You broke his rib and his nose. Not that it wasn't big enough already."  
  
"You don't deserve what he did to you," Chris said. "No one deserves that."  
  
"I'm fine Chris," Stephanie said, laying a calming hand on his arm. "Nothing is broken."  
  
"Luckily," Chris said. "I shudder to think about what he was going to do to you. God Stephanie, what if I hadn't gotten back?"  
  
"Don't," Stephanie said, turning her head away from Chris to hide the tear that slipped out her eye.  
  
"I'm sorry Steph," Chris said, standing up to hug her to him. "I'm just so glad that he didn't…"  
  
"Me too," Stephanie said. "That might have broken me."  
  
"Not you," Chris said, hugging her tightly. "You're the strongest woman I know. And you know that I know both Lita and my mother."  
  
"Thank you," Stephanie said, wrapping her arms around his waist.  
  
"Don't thank me for telling you the truth," Chris said. "Just one thing really pisses me off though."  
  
"What?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"You were yelling for help," Chris said. "I heard you down the hall and no one came to help. No one."  
  
"Hey, they must have figured it was a trap," Stephanie said.  
  
"That's no excuse," Chris said. "I could tell that you were desperate and I was down the hall. It makes me sick."  
  
"Obviously Benoit and Angle were coming," Stephanie said. "They were there to keep you from killing Hunter."  
  
"Unfortunately," Chris growled.  
  
"Hey," Stephanie said. "I'm glad you didn't kill him. I kind of like having you around."  
  
"Really?" Chris asked, looking down at her.  
  
"Of course I do," Stephanie said, smacking his bare chest playfully.  
  
Her lips were covered by his warm lips. She instantly responded to the warm, comforting feeling. She felt his hands tangle in her hair. Her arms tightened around his waist.  
  
"Stephanie?" Chris asked, pulling away from her.  
  
"Don't stop Chris," Stephanie said, looking up into his eyes.  
  
"I don't want you to think I'm him," Chris said. "I don't want something to start between us and then you mentally go back to what he was trying to do to you."  
  
"That won't happen," Stephanie said.  
  
"It could," Chris said.  
  
"It won't," Stephanie insisted. "Kiss me."  
  
*  
  
Chris held Stephanie in his arms what seemed like hours later. Her palm was opened over his heart. He chuckled to himself as he thought that she really did have his heart in the palm of her hand.  
  
It was like a dream come true for him. He had wanted her for so long. She came to him because she needed him. She might not love him. But she would. He felt in with his whole being. Stephanie would come to love him.  
  
He traced his hand up and down her bare spine. He loved having her pressed up against him. He felt like he was finally where he belonged. He hadn't gotten involved in this whole plan to make her fall for him, he had felt that he owed it to her. She never should have gotten pinned by Hunter.  
  
But somewhere in the middle of their relationship, he had genuinely fallen in love with the woman in his arms. He wasn't sure if it was the way that she had treated his family or just the way she smiled at him, like they shared some private joke. Something had taken his feelings for her beyond mere attraction.  
  
"Aren't you asleep yet?" Stephanie mumbled against his chest.  
  
"Not quite," Chris said. "I'm almost there."  
  
"You better be," Stephanie said. "I can't keep up with you Jericho."  
  
"I think you can," Chris said, placing a kiss on the top of her head. She reciprocated by dropping a kiss on his chest.  
  
Moments later she was sleeping again. He smiled down at her. "I love you Steph."  
  
"Mmm," Stephanie breathed, as if she heard him. 


	14. New Starts

Stephanie woke up in the warm circle of Chris' arms. She maneuvered herself so that she could look at his face. He had a smile on his lips. She gently touched her finger to his lips and traced the line of them.  
  
She had never felt so content in her entire life. She honestly felt like she could lie in bed with Chris for the rest of her life and not need to move. He made her feel safe and loved. And he had said it.  
  
She couldn't say it back. Part of her wanted to tell him that she loved him, but she didn't want to lie to him. He deserved so much more than that for everything he done for her. She cared for him very deeply and she was attracted to him, but love was a different story.  
  
Not that she really knew what love felt like. With Andrew, she had honestly thought that she was in love. When she looked back at it she knew that she was infatuated and desperate to get out from below that grasp of her family.  
  
And Hunter. For a brief period she had believed herself to be in love with him. That was why she had gone to extreme lengths to hold on to her marriage. But at the heart of their marriage at been a high degree of selfishness on both of their parts. Stephanie couldn't blame Hunter for everything that went wrong in their marriage, they had both needed to change if they were ever going to work out.  
  
But that was over and she had quite obviously moved on to the next phase in her life. She smiled softly at the man who had held her the whole night through.  
  
"Morning," he said, opening his eyes just a bit.  
  
"Good morning yourself," Stephanie said.  
  
"How are you feeling?" Chris asked, his brow furrowing with concern.  
  
"Perfect," Stephanie said. "You?"  
  
"The same," Chris said.  
  
"I'm glad to hear that," Stephanie said, turning her head so she could drop a soft kiss on his bare chest.  
  
"You're beautiful," Chris said, looking down at her.  
  
"Thank you Chris," Stephanie said. She smiled wickedly. "You aren't so bad yourself."  
  
"Last night, it wasn't just some thing was it?" Chris asked, running a hand through her hair.  
  
"Some thing?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"I mean, it wasn't like a one time thing," Chris said. "It wasn't just because of all that happened with Hunter?"  
  
"No," Stephanie said firmly. "Last night happened because I wanted it to happen. I hope you did too."  
  
"I've wanted that to happen forever Stephanie," Chris said. "I've been head-over-heels for you for quite some time."  
  
"Really?" Stephanie asked, feeling a blush pinken her cheeks.  
  
"Oh yeah," Chris said.  
  
"You should have told me like a month ago," Stephanie said.  
  
"Would you have not married me?" Chris asked.  
  
"I would have still married you," Stephanie said. "I just would have been more open about my attraction to you."  
  
"Attraction to me?" Chris asked.  
  
"There was a reason I was giving you all of those kisses for luck," Stephanie said.  
  
"Well, there was a reason I liked them," Chris said.  
  
"I'm glad we're on the same page now," Stephanie giggled.  
  
"How do we explain to people that we are more like newlyweds now then we were a couple of weeks ago?" Chris asked.  
  
"I don't care," Stephanie said. "All I want is for us to not get stuck on what we want other people to see when they look at us."  
  
"Why?" Chris asked.  
  
"Because," Stephanie said. "There was a time when I was happy with Hunter, but we were so concerned with the power we exuded that we forgot to actually stay happy with each other. It led to him being hurt when I didn't stay around for his recovery and me being unhappy when he changed so suddenly."  
  
"Alright," Chris said, nodding his head. "I won't care what anyone thinks about us, except for…us."  
  
"That sounds like a plan," Stephanie said, nuzzling closer to him. "I will say that being married makes everything so convenient."  
  
"Yeah," Chris said. "Mrs. Jericho."  
  
Stephanie giggled. "I like McMahon-Jericho."  
  
"You would," Chris said, dropping a kiss on the top of her head. "How about breakfast. Does that sound like another plan?"  
  
"It sounds like a great plan," Stephanie said.  
  
"I can make eggs and toast," Chris offered, grabbing a robe from the ground. Stephanie leaned over to find her own robe on the ground.  
  
"I'm all about bacon and orange juice," Stephanie laughed. "Between the two of us we can probably make a decent breakfast."  
  
About thirty minutes later they were down in the kitchen, laughing as they made breakfast together. The phone rang and Stephanie skipped over to answer it.  
  
"Hello," Stephanie said. She listened for a moment. "Yeah he's right her Daddy. I'll put you on speaker."  
  
"Hi Chris," Vince's voice said over the phone.  
  
"Hello Vince," Chris said, stirring the eyes in the frying pan.  
  
"I was calling to let you both know that I've arranged a match between Chris and Hunter at Unforgiven," Vince said. "I talked to Flair and he agreed that given the situation you deserve the shot."  
  
"I don't know if I'll be able to get the title from him," Chris said, squeezing his hand around the handle of the pan.  
  
"Sure you will sweetie," Stephanie said, grinning at him.  
  
"I mean, get me that close and I might bash his head in with a chair after what he tried to do to Stephanie," Chris clarified.  
  
"That's why it's going to be no-DQ," Vince said. His own voice was low with fury. "I think he deserves it."  
  
"Me too," Chris said. He looked over at Stephanie and saw the bewildered look on her face. He smiled at her. "Thanks Vince."  
  
"You're welcome," Vince said. "Even though I'm doing it for me too."  
  
"Thanks Daddy," Stephanie said.  
  
"You okay baby girl?" Vince asked, his voice softening as he spoke to his daughter.  
  
"Yeah," Stephanie said. "My husband is taking excellent care of me."  
  
"He better," Vince said. "You two enjoy the weekend."  
  
"Okay, bye Daddy," Stephanie said.  
  
Chris took the eggs off of the stove and went to put them on the plates Stephanie had laid out. He went and he stuck the pan in the water in the sink. He turned to her and he saw the concerned look on her face.  
  
"Don't worry," he said. "I won't kill him."  
  
"You sure?" Stephanie asked. "Because you seem like you want to."  
  
"Oh, I want to rip him limb from limb," Chris said. "But I don't want to be taken away from you more than I want to kill him."  
  
"That's good," Stephanie said. "Because I like having you around."  
  
"Good," Chris said, dropping a kiss on her lips. "Because I'm here for awhile."  
  
"Good to hear," Stephanie said.  
  
Chris took a deep breath when his eyes traveled down her neck to she the finger imprints on Stephanie's neck. "Bastard."  
  
"Chris," Stephanie whispered, tears filling her eyes. "Don't."  
  
"I need to see the rest Stephanie," Chris said. "You wouldn't show me before. And last night I was distracted."  
  
"Why?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"Because, waking up next to you I can tell exactly how much makeup you have been putting on to hide how badly he bruised your cheek," Chris said, lightly kissing the cheek that was purple in the middle and a sickening yellow color on the outside. "I need to make sure you're okay."  
  
Stephanie opened her robe to show him her stomach. There were long bruises across her abdomen. "Nothing is broken Chris."  
  
His fingers probed the bruises with his fingers. He lightly touched his lips to her stomach and he looked up at her. "He will never hurt you again."  
  
"I know," Stephanie said, cupping his cheek in her hand. "You make me feel safe."  
  
"I wish I could have done a better job," Chris said bitterly.  
  
"Hey," Stephanie said. "It wasn't your fault. You're the reason I'm okay now." 


	15. Stay Gold

*** Author's note: I used to have these a lot more than I do now but anyways…I wanted to thank everyone who has reviewed thus far. I promise that I will try my best to thank all of you individually sometime in the near future. I also wanted to address Gene's review, and since this person did not leave an e-mail so I could e-mail them privately I will just have to do it here.  
  
Gene, thanks for the review. I appreciate that this world is not black and white, but there are shades of gray. However, for the purposes of this story, there has to be a bad guy. There will be parts in this fic which will make the good guys seem not so good. This is not a slice-of-life fic, this is at the base a story with a plot where all of the characters are subject to my interpretation. If you don't like my interpretation, I'm sorry, that's why I appreciate constructive criticism. I also appreciate that if people are going to talk about what they think should be different they should leave their e-mail so I can reply to them privately. In closing, thanks for the review, I'm glad you voiced your concerns. On the other hand, if you still don't like the portrayals or you are a HHH fan then no one is forcing you to read this fic and it might just frustrate you if I keep portraying Hunter in a bad light (the fact is that his character is just pissing me off on the TV programming right now because he's a hypocrite…but that's why I dislike most faces.) Sorry to everyone else who read this LONG author's note, I just had to address the review for my own piece of mind. ***  
  
*  
  
Stephanie jumped up and down on the apron to distract the referee. Hell, it was no-DQ, she might as well use the stipulations of the match to the best advantage of herself and her husband.  
  
Hunter turned and saw Stephanie distracting the ref as he pinned Jericho. "Your damn wife is interfering."  
  
"Glad to see you figured out who's wife she is," Jericho said, raising his arm and decking Hunter as hard as he could.  
  
The fight had been going on for a good twenty minutes. Each man had fought hard. Jericho loved to fight against Hunter because he brought the best out in him. But this time was different. This time was for Stephanie.  
  
"C'mon Chris!" Stephanie yelled. She had gotten off of the apron and was standing next to the ring, pounding her hand on the mat.  
  
Jericho looked over at Stephanie quickly and grinned at her. She smiled back shyly. Hunter looked between them. "You really care about her, don't you?"  
  
"Couldn't you tell when I beat you to a bloody pulp?" Jericho asked. He lunged at Hunter and knocked him to the ground, pummeling him with his fists. "And if you ever lay another hand on her I swear to God I will kill you."  
  
"I know," Hunter said, finally fighting back.  
  
Jericho stopped and stared the other man down. "How could you do it? How could you beat a woman who is quite a bit smaller than you? How could you try to rape her? You used to care about her?"  
  
"She used to care about me!" Hunter exclaimed.  
  
Stephanie heard the exchange between the men and she felt rage course through her veins. "Hey! I didn't stop! You stopped caring about me!"  
  
"When?" Hunter asked, turning towards her.  
  
"When you came back here and you decided you wanted to be Mr. Popular," Stephanie yelled at him. "You decided I wasn't good enough for you."  
  
"You always changed so we could stay together before!" Hunter exclaimed. "Why didn't you change with me?"  
  
"Because I am who I am!" Stephanie said. "I like to win. I like to be in charge. If I have to cheat to do it, then that's what it takes!"  
  
Jericho watched the interaction between the exes with stunned disbelief. Hunter still loved Stephanie. And it looked like Stephanie still gave a damn about Hunter. He felt all of the hopes he had for himself and Stephanie and their life together crumble.  
  
"And if you cared about me you never would have done what you did!" Stephanie said. "It nearly killed me to think that you could do that to me. I figured we still had some mutual respect or something for each other!"  
  
"Damn it Stephanie!" Hunter exclaimed, kneeling on the ground to get face level with his ex-wife. "You hurt me when you showed me how little you cared for me by lying about having my baby. I thought getting you out of the WWF would hurt you back. But you had to come back. I couldn't find another way to hurt you!"  
  
"How little I cared?" Stephanie asked in disbelief. "If I didn't care about you, if I didn't want our marriage I never would have lied about having our baby. I was clinging on to you the only way I could."  
  
Hunter blanched. "You didn't do it to hurt me? You weren't trying to use my emotions against me?"  
  
"No!" Stephanie exclaimed. "I was just trying to fix us."  
  
"God Stephanie," Hunter said. "I wish there was a way to go back…"  
  
"You better fight my husband now," Stephanie said, feeling tears fill her eyes. She didn't know why she was ready to cry.  
  
"Your husband? I'm you're…shit," Hunter said, turning to face Chris Jericho. He was met with a hard right hook.  
  
Stephanie stepped away from the ring, wiping tears away from her cheeks. Was she crying because she knew she and Hunter could never have their relationship back? Was she crying happy tears because she knew Hunter would probably take her back if she asked? Or was she crying because she had seen the hurt look on Chris' face while she and Hunter were fighting?  
  
He had looked as if his entire world had crumbled below him and he didn't know how to regain his footing.  
  
"Don't trust her," Hunter said to Chris, knowing full well he had damaged his relationship with Stephanie beyond redemption. "She can be poison."  
  
"Coming from you I find that funny," Chris said.  
  
"Still Jericho," Hunter said. "You think she might fall in love with you, but the most important thing in the world to Stephanie McMahon is Stephanie McMahon. You're an afterthought at best."  
  
"You don't know her," Jericho growled, attacking the man with all that he had.  
  
*  
  
"That was great," Stephanie said, patting the belt that hung over Jericho's shoulder. She had to walk quickly to keep up with him. "How do you want to celebrate?"  
  
"I want to shower," Jericho said gruffly.  
  
"That's good," Stephanie laughed. "Because you're kind of stinky."  
  
"Thanks," Jericho said dryly. He got to their dressing room and he threw the belt onto the couch. He quickly walked to the bathroom attached and began to strip down so he could take a shower.  
  
Stephanie sat on the couch next to the belt and she placed it in her lap. He didn't seem to care so much that he had won. It was nice to have a person who wasn't obsessed with belts as her significant other.  
  
She took a towel off the arm of the couch and buffed the face of the belt. She heard Jericho start the shower.  
  
She got up and walked into the bathroom. She stared at the shower stall and called out, "How's you forehead?"  
  
"Fine," was the curt response she got.  
  
"Do we need to go to the trainer to make sure you don't have a concussion or anything?" Stephanie asked. "Hunter hit you pretty hard."  
  
"I'm fine," Jericho said again.  
  
"What's the matter Chris?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"Nothing," Jericho replied.  
  
Stephanie opened the door to the shower and said, "Don't say nothing is bugging you because I know that something is!"  
  
"How do you know?" Jericho asked, turning to her. His blue eyes held no emotion and for some reason, Stephanie's heart started to ache.  
  
"You're acting so strangely Chris," Stephanie said.  
  
"And do you plan to have heart-to-heart chats with your husband in all of my matches?" Jericho asked, a low fire igniting in his eyes.  
  
"My ex-husband," Stephanie said. "You're my husband."  
  
"You sure?" Jericho asked. "You and Hunter looked like you were on the verge of reconciliation for a little bit there."  
  
"I couldn't go back to him after what he did to me Chris," Stephanie said. "And I don't want to anymore. Once upon a time I thought I loved him. But I didn't. I convinced myself that I loved him and I used that as a justification for stomping all over other people. I was wrong."  
  
"You don't have to play games with me Stephanie," Jericho said. "If you decide that you miss what you had with him, then you can leave this marriage."  
  
"No!" Stephanie exclaimed. "God Chris, you're my best friend!"  
  
"And that's about it," Jericho replied, turning his head into the spray of the showerhead.  
  
"No," Stephanie said. "You're my lover too. I don't want to live a life without you Chris. I want to be with you."  
  
Chris turned to her and studied her critically. "You sure about all of that?"  
  
"Aren't you my lover?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"I would say so, yes," Chris said.  
  
"And aren't you my friend?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"Yeah," Chris said, nodding.  
  
"I hope I'm the same to you," Stephanie said.  
  
"You are," Chris said.  
  
"Then why would I ever go back?" Stephanie asked. "I'm a fan of looking ahead and being as happy as I can be. I'm happy with you."  
  
"Are you?" Chris asked.  
  
Stephanie stepped inside the shower stall, disregarding the water that would ruin her leather pants. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. She pulled back and her blue eyes met with his.  
  
"Can't you tell?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"Sometimes it's hard," Chris said.  
  
"I know," Stephanie nodded. "But I trust you Jericho. I lost the trust I had in Hunter and I don't want to be with someone I can't trust."  
  
"What about love?" Jericho asked.  
  
"I don't know," Stephanie said honestly. "Maybe it will come."  
  
"I love you," Chris said. Her blues eyes softened and she smiled softly. She leaned in and lightly touched her lips to his.  
  
"Thank you Chris," Stephanie said. "You were the one who showed me that life was worth living. You were the one who made it okay to move on. And I hope one day I can return the feelings. But I won't lie to you."  
  
"Okay," Chris nodded. "I can handle that."  
  
"Thanks," Stephanie said, she kissed him again. "Thanks for not pushing too hard." 


	16. Unwelcome

"Yeah, I know," Lita said into her cell phone. "Look, I know that you're happy but you really need to think with your head where she is concerned."  
  
"Lita, I love you and I respect your opinion," Jericho said to his cousin. "But Stephanie really has changed. She doesn't love Hunter anymore."  
  
"It would be harder to believe that she ever loved him at all," Lita said dryly.  
  
"I thought you said you were going to give her a chance," Jericho said. "I mean, she doesn't say anything bad about you."  
  
"Well, maybe she is the better person," Lita said. "You know, because I've hit so many people while they were down."  
  
"Look, let's just not talk about this," Jericho said. "I really don't need to get in an argument with you about my wife."  
  
"Wimp," Lita laughed.  
  
"How's Matt?" Chris asked.  
  
"He's good," Lita said. "His ribs are recovering pretty well and the concussion is fine. And he's being a good sport."  
  
"That's good," Jericho said. "And are you being Molly nursemaid?"  
  
"Molly?" Lita asked archly. "Did you see what she did to Trish last week. Like the girl really needed her hand to be smashed again. It makes me wonder what Molly and Jazz are so afraid about since they can't seem to face her with her at a hundred percent or one-on-one."  
  
"That was a mouthful," Chris said. "How's Trish doing?"  
  
"Determined to destroy Molly," Lita said. "It's nice to see her mean streak coming out. They've done this shit to her one too many times."  
  
"Has Rocky showed up?" Chris asked.  
  
"You mean Mr. Scorpion King?" Lita asked. "No."  
  
"Well, he probably has other obligations," Chris reasoned. "But I don't know why I'm defending him, he's not exactly my friend."  
  
"Well, Trish seems okay with him not being here yet," Lita said. "And a certain Hardy boy is being much more attentive to her than he was the last time she got hurt."  
  
"So Jeff wants some Stratusfaction?" Jericho asked. "Too bad he's screwed it up once and she's gotten a boyfriend since."  
  
"Rain on my parade," Lita said. "I think Trish and Jeff would be cute together."  
  
"You wouldn't have a year ago," Jericho pointed out.  
  
"For good reasons," Lita said.  
  
"Whatever," Jericho said.  
  
"Any good gossip over at SmackDown?" Lita asked.  
  
"Oh yeah," Jericho said. "Mr. McMahon's assistant has been carrying on a secret liaison with Mr. McMahon's golden boy."  
  
"Stacey and Kurt?" Lita asked in shock. "Vince doesn't know?"  
  
"Hell no," Jericho said. "He thinks Stacey is completely devoted to him. Sick old man."  
  
"Hey, that's your father-in-law," Lita admonished.  
  
"You don't Stephanie will do that to me when we're in our old age do you?" Jericho asked.  
  
"You know the apple doesn't fall far from the tree," Lita said.  
  
"Hey!" Jericho exclaimed.  
  
"If it makes you feel better," Lita said. "In my personal experience that isn't the case with the McMahons."  
  
"It does," Jericho said. "Thanks."  
  
"You're welcome," Lita said. "I have to do a filming thing for my little thing announcing the match."  
  
"Okay," Jericho said. "Later."  
  
"Bye," Lita said. She hung up her phone and headed down the hall towards the room where they were filming stuff.  
  
"Hey guys," she said to the techies as she walked into the room.  
  
"Hey Lita," one of the men said. "You going to do yours with Trish?"  
  
"Yeah," Lita said. "Is she here yet?"  
  
"She'll be here in a second," someone else said. "She's in a meeting with Mr. Flair."  
  
"There is absolutely no reason for this!" a voice was yelling. The words were all slurring together, which could only mean one thing…Ric Flair was coming to the room.  
  
"Look, it wasn't me who decided to do this," a familiar voice said. "The board of directors thought you were becoming a little too much like Vince and they wanted to send me to be a liaison between you and the wrestlers."  
  
"Why you?" Ric asked. Lita could tell that they were just outside the room. Trish hurried in and smiled apologetically to Lita.  
  
"Because they feel that I know the wrestlers and they will trust me more than someone who has absolutely no idea what the wrestling world is like," the other man said. "And I have a head for business."  
  
"You're company went out of business," Ric said, walking into the room.  
  
"Not because of bad business practices," Shane McMahon said, walking into the room behind Flair. "Stephanie and I ran the business side of the Alliance very well."  
  
"I'm happy for you," Ric muttered.  
  
"Get used to seeing me around Flair," Shane said. "I'm here to stay."  
  
"I hate McMahons," Ric muttered.  
  
"Me too sometimes," Shane said as he grinned. He looked up to see Lita standing with Trish. His grin softened a bit. "Hello Lita."  
  
"So are you our boss?" Lita asked angrily. "Are you just weaseling your way back into the company like your sister did?"  
  
"I'm not your boss, no," Shane said, confused over Lita's reaction. "I'm actually going to be wrestling myself. I'm more of a commissioner than anything else."  
  
"That's our boss," Lita said coldly.  
  
"Not exactly in my position," Shane said. "I won't really be making matches, I'll just be keeping Flair's matches fair."  
  
"Good to have you back Shane," Trish said, feeling sorry for the man who had always treated her like a lady.  
  
"Thanks," Shane said. "Nice to see one or two people aren't totally opposed to me being back."  
  
"Just give us WWFers some time," Trish said, nudging Lita softly.  
  
"Whatever," Lita said. "Let's get this over with."  
  
Shane stood off to the side, talking with Flair as Lita and Trish posed for the filler for their match. Lita did the guns as always. Her eyes caught with Shane's and she felt her heart stop for a moment.  
  
She wasn't exactly sure why she was being so standoffish with Shane. Except that his appearance might upset the relative peace of her and Matt's relationship of late. She knew that she secretly had regrets over the way she walked out on Shane. She wasn't sure she could hide the attraction she still felt for him.  
  
"What's up Lita?" Trish whispered to her friend.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Lita asked, feigning innocence.  
  
"I mean, you and Shane were cool with each other before he bought WCW," Trish said. "He's never done anything to you personally. Has he?"  
  
"No," Lita sighed.  
  
"Then what's with the attitude?" Trish asked.  
  
"It's a long story better left in the past," Lita said.  
  
"Well, I'm here if you need to talk," Trish said.  
  
"Thanks," Lita said.  
  
"You're done ladies," one of the techies told them. They walked back over to Shane and Flair. Shane stood close to the door, giving everyone else plenty of room.  
  
"You girls set for your match tonight?" Flair asked.  
  
"Yeah," Trish said, cradling her injured hand in her fine hand.  
  
"We'll kick Molly and Jazz's asses," Lita said, grinning at Flair.  
  
"That will be enjoyable," a deep voice said from behind Flair. Everyone turned to see The Rock standing in the doorway with a bouquet of flowers in his hand.  
  
Trish smiled brightly as she launched herself into her boyfriend's arms. "You came!"  
  
"The Rock saw that you were hurt," he shrugged, hugging the petite blonde tightly to him. "Sorry it took so long."  
  
"It's okay," Trish said. "Now is all that matters."  
  
"Where's your dressing room?" Rocky asked. "You deserve to be pampered by your boyfriend."  
  
Lita waved to her friend as she watched Trish skip happily alongside her boyfriend. "I've got calls to make," Flair said, walking quickly away.  
  
"Poor Jeff," Lita sighed to herself.  
  
"Why's that?" Shane asked.  
  
"Huh?" Lita asked, not realizing Shane was still there. "Oh, Jeff is head- over-heels for Trish, but since Rocky showed up there's little chance of them breaking up anytime soon."  
  
"Since when are they an item?" Shane asked.  
  
"Since he kissed her after she came to thank him for saving her from kissing your dad's ass," Lita said.  
  
"Ah," Shane nodded. "That was funny."  
  
"I guess," Lita shrugged.  
  
"What's wrong?" Shane asked.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Lita asked. "Why here and not SmackDown?"  
  
"They're sending Foley to SmackDown," Shane said. "I wasn't about to turn down a job in the business I love."  
  
"Even though it complicates my life on so many levels?" Lita asked.  
  
"You made your bed Lita," Shane said. "If I had my way there would be no friction or anything between us."  
  
"I know," Lita said miserably. She looked up at Shane and felt a pang of longing. She shook her head sadly. "I have to go call my boyfriend." 


	17. Expect the Unexpected

One month later  
  
*  
  
"Good morning," Chris said to Stephanie, nuzzling against her.  
  
Stephanie opened her eyes and felt an immediate sense of belonging. She tightened her arms around Jericho's waist and accepted the soft kiss he gave her.  
  
"Morning yourself," Stephanie said. "It's nice to wake up to you."  
  
"That sentiment is returned," Chris said. "What do you feel like doing today?"  
  
"Hm, getting a tan," Stephanie said.  
  
"A tan?" Chris asked. "Can't you think of anything better to do?"  
  
"Not really," Stephanie said. "I've had some kind of stomach bug for the past week or so. I kind of just want to lay around and do nothing."  
  
"I see," Jericho said, again kissing Stephanie lightly. "I can think of other kinds of laying around that we can do."  
  
"Yeah, but I want to rest," Stephanie said, lightly pushing Jericho away. "And there is no resting involved in what you are talking about."  
  
"True," Jericho said. "I'm going to take a swim if you are going to lay out in the sun."  
  
"Okay," Stephanie said. They each got out of bed and slipped on their swimwear.  
  
"I'm going to go grab some juice," Jericho said. "You want some."  
  
"Sure," Stephanie said, adjusting her suit as she appraised her appearance in the mirror.  
  
Jericho leaned over and kissed her cheek. "You look gorgeous."  
  
She grinned at him. "Thanks. I'll be right down."  
  
"Okay," Jericho said.  
  
Stephanie fanned herself because she felt really hot. It was true that the spring was unusually warm, but she kept the air conditioner at a pretty low setting. There was no reason that she should feel so hot.  
  
She bolted for the toilet as she felt herself about to throw up. She was still sitting next to the toilet several minutes later, thinking that if she threw up anymore she would throw her stomach up.  
  
She went and brushed her teeth, thinking that she must have some prolonged case of food poisoning or something. But she didn't feel all that sick. She had just been throwing up during the last few days. Nothing else was wrong.  
  
She looked up at the mirror and realization struck her like lightning. "No," Stephanie said to her reflection. "I can't be."  
  
"Stephanie!" Jericho called up the stairs. "Did you fall in?"  
  
"I'll be right down!" Stephanie called down. She started mentally calculating in her head. She grabbed her sarong and wrapped it around her waist.  
  
"Took you long enough," Jericho said, handing her a glass of juice as she came off the stairs.  
  
"Sorry," Stephanie offered weakly.  
  
"You okay?" Jericho asked, concern marring his brow.  
  
"I'm just a little tired," Stephanie said, waving off his concern. "Lets go to the backyard."  
  
"Yes ma'am," Jericho said, wrapping an arm around her waist as they walked to the back. "I don't know why we bothered with swim suits anyways."  
  
"You're just a horny old goat," Stephanie said, smiling lightly.  
  
"Only with you," Jericho said, kissing the tip of her nose.  
  
"I should hope so," Stephanie said, wrapping her own arm around his waist. She grabbed her sunglasses as she walked out onto the patio of the backyard.  
  
Stephanie kissed Jericho lightly again before she settled onto a lounge chair. She laid back and let the sun hit her.  
  
It was the only possible explanation. She had always used it as a ploy to keep Hunter from getting mad at her before. But this time it was real. And it was with Jericho. She shook her head at the irony.  
  
She had tried during two different times of her previous marriage to get pregnant with Hunter's baby. She had even lied about it once. And now she was pregnant with Jericho's baby, a man she had hated up until six months ago. A man she couldn't have imagined touching romantically until nearly two months earlier.  
  
That wasn't entirely true. She had had dreams about him, even while they were sworn enemies. But that was his fault, because he was the one who had kissed her twice. He was the one who had sent that excitement through her that caused her to have rather vivid sensual dreams about him. Something told her he would have liked to known that.  
  
She and Jericho were just settling into a life together. In some ways they were still getting to know each other. Stephanie was getting used to his heavy metal music. Jericho was getting used to her notes that she left for herself everywhere. She had no idea what his favorite color was, what his favorite meal was. She didn't know much about what he was like as a child.  
  
Could she have a child with this man? Having a baby with him would permanently connect her to him. Even if they decided they weren't suited for each other, they would have something that was a part of both of them to tie each other together.  
  
He said he loved her. He told her often. It wasn't that he was trying to sway her or make her feel something for him that she didn't. He just wanted to tell her. It was like he was assuring her that he was still sure.  
  
It was nice to have someone who loved her. Someone who put her first. Of course, she was different with Chris than she had been with any other man in her life. With Andrew, he had always treated her like a princess, like he didn't deserve her attention and in some ways she was content to let him treat her like she was better than him. With Hunter, she had always had expectations of him. She expected him to take care of her, she expected him to defend her.  
  
With Chris, she was just happy to be around him. He could always make her smile. She knew had helped her a lot by marrying her, but he never made her feel indebted to him. It seemed like they just were.  
  
But she wasn't sure if that would last forever. She wasn't even sure she knew what forever meant. She wasn't sure it existed.  
  
Could she bring a baby into this world when she didn't even know up from down anymore? Would she even be a good mother? She had a sinking feeling that she was the kind of person whose kids would be permanently scarred by their childhood.  
  
But part of her was intensely happy at the prospect of becoming a mother. And she was overjoyed that Jericho was the father. She genuinely cared about him and she was as happy as she had ever been with him. She knew he would be the perfect father. Maybe that would counterbalance any McMahon tendencies.  
  
Suddenly she felt a couple of drops of water fall onto her. She opened her eyes to see Chris standing over her.  
  
"What?" she asked suspiciously.  
  
"Nothing," Chris said innocently.  
  
"You aren't fooling me mister," Stephanie said suspiciously. "What are you up to?"  
  
"Nothing," Chris said. Suddenly he swooped down and gathered her in his hands.  
  
"Chris!" Stephanie exclaimed in horror. "You're all wet!"  
  
"You looked hot," Chris said simply, covering her mouth with a deep kiss.  
  
Stephanie felt herself being lifted up. "Put me down."  
  
"What?" Jericho asked, grinning down at her. He started walking toward the pool.  
  
"Chris, you heard me," Stephanie said seriously. "Put me down."  
  
"If you say so," Jericho said, dropping her into the pool. Stephanie managed to take a gulp of air before she hit the water. She was submerged for a few minutes, then she came to the surface.  
  
"How could you do that to me?" Stephanie sputtered at her husband.  
  
Chris shrugged before he jumped into the pool. "I just could," he said, when he resurfaced next to her.  
  
"You're impossible," Stephanie said, turning away from him.  
  
Jericho took her hand and pulled her back to him. "Hey, don't be mad."  
  
"You got me wet," Stephanie said petulantly.  
  
"You're not honestly mad are you?" Chris asked, gently taking her face in his hands.  
  
She smiled softly at him, placing her arms on both of his shoulders. "Not really," Stephanie said. She then proceeded to dunk him underwater.  
  
"Stephanie!" Jericho exclaimed when he was back above water.  
  
"What?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"Nothing," he said, pulling her close and kissing her hard on the mouth. "I love you."  
  
Stephanie closed her eyes and savored the sound of it. "You're wonderful Chris."  
  
"Thanks," Chris said, sounding only slightly disappointed. Stephanie saw it and wished that she could tell him that she loved him.  
  
And she wished she could tell him that she thought she was pregnant. 


	18. Fraternal Advice

"I don't think I should go out there with you tonight," Stephanie said, bouncing nervously on the balls of her feet as Jericho waited for his cue to go to the ring.  
  
"What?" Jericho asked, his head swerving toward his wife, his blue eyes widening in shock. "What are you talking about?"  
  
"Honey, we both know you don't need me out there," Stephanie said. "You'll be fine."  
  
"Stephanie," Jericho said, taking her hand in his. "I want you out there with me. I like knowing you'll be out there with me."  
  
"I just don't feel so well sweetie," Stephanie said, laying her free hand along the side of his face. "I don't think I would be much of an asset."  
  
"Well, all you had to say was that you didn't feel well," Jericho said, lightly squeezing her hand. "Do you want to go back to the dressing room?"  
  
"Nah," Stephanie said, leaning over and lightly touching her lips to his. "I'll wait right here for you."  
  
"Okay," Jericho said. He looked indecisive. "You sure you don't want to go back?"  
  
"Hey, that's your cue," Stephanie said, hearing his music. "Get out there!"  
  
"Yes ma'am," he saluted. She smiled after him.  
  
Stephanie stood at the gorilla, watching Jericho's match with Edge. She used to be friends with Edge before he decided he was going to be all noble and fair all of the time. Christian had reacted rather badly to the change in Edge. She chuckled under breath as she thought that whole situation resembled her own situation with Hunter.  
  
Her cell phone started vibrating in the back pocket of her jeans. "Hello?"  
  
"Steph!" Shane asked, his breathing labored. "Are you alright?"  
  
"I'm fine Shane," Stephanie said. "Why?"  
  
"Apparently Dad called Mom to say you didn't come out with Jericho for his match and Mom figured something must be wrong," Shane said. "She had me call you."  
  
"Chris went out there five minutes ago," Stephanie said.  
  
"Are you okay?" Shane asked again.  
  
"I'm fine Shane," Stephanie said.  
  
"Then why aren't you out there?" Shane asked. "Did you and Chris have a fight?"  
  
"No Shane," Stephanie said, watching the screen as she talked to her brother. "I just couldn't go out there."  
  
"Why not?" Shane asked.  
  
Stephanie looked around and noted several wrestlers standing around. "I'll talk to you about it later."  
  
"Stephanie," Shane said.  
  
"It's personal Shane," Stephanie said. "And I'm standing at the gorilla watching Chris' match. So I promise that I will tell you within the week."  
  
"So you can't go out to the ring?" Shane asked. "Or you don't want to?"  
  
"Can't," Stephanie said. "Are we playing twenty questions or something?"  
  
"Something like that," Shane said. "Does Jericho know why you didn't go out with him?"  
  
"Not yet," Stephanie said.  
  
"Will he?" Shane asked.  
  
"I haven't decided yet," Stephanie said. "Which is why I can't tell you why right now."  
  
"So you're pregnant?" Shane asked.  
  
"What?" Stephanie asked in shock. "How did you figure…I mean, what are you talking about?"  
  
"It's no good Stephanie," Shane said. "Congratulations."  
  
"On what?" Stephanie asked. "Turning my life upside down once I was thinking I had it figured out."  
  
"Stephanie, Jericho loves you," Shane said. "You two will be wonderful parents."  
  
"You forget I'm a McMahon," Stephanie snorted.  
  
"Touche," Shane said dryly. "You should tell him Stephanie."  
  
"I know," Stephanie said. "But there is so much to consider."  
  
"No there isn't," Shane said. "I know you. You could never have an abortion. And Jericho loves you and he will love you're baby."  
  
"I know that," Stephanie said. "But I don't know that. He's unpredictable."  
  
"Recently he's been pretty predictable," Shane said. "He does what is best for you."  
  
"He does, doesn't he?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"Tell him," Shane said. "Before he finds out some other way."  
  
"Okay," Stephanie said. "I'll do something romantic so I can soften the blow."  
  
"He'll be jumping up and down on the bed in happiness," Shane predicted.  
  
*  
  
"What does your sister need to tell my cousin?" Lita asked from behind Shane McMahon.  
  
"Were you eavesdropping on me?" Shane asked, whirling around to face his ex- girlfriend.  
  
"Call me nosy," Lita shrugged.  
  
"I can't say any conversation I have with my sister is any of your damn business," Shane said. "Especially since you don't particularly care for her."  
  
"When the conversation concerns my cousin, it concerns me," Lita said, her hazel eyes gleaming dangerously. "Do I really have to convince you to tell me Shane?"  
  
"Look Lita," Shane said, holding his hands up in defense. "It's nothing bad. It's good actually."  
  
"She's filing for divorce?" Lita asked hopefully.  
  
"You really hate her don't you?" Shane asked.  
  
"I have a tendency not to trust her," Lita said. "Call it experience."  
  
"What has she done in the past few months to make you doubt her and her attentions toward Jericho?" Shane asked. "Can't you tell that she's really changed?"  
  
"And what was that conversation she was having with her ex-husband during his match with her current husband at Unforgiven?" Lita asked. "It looked like she was a little torn as to who she wanted to win."  
  
"I think her and Hunter were finally putting the past behind them," Shane said. "I noticed Jericho come out of that match at the Undisputed Champion."  
  
"You would think Hunter and Stephanie put their past behind them when they got divorced," Lita pointed out.  
  
"You have no idea," Shane said, turning away from Lita to walk down the hall.  
  
Lita grabbed him by the forearm and said, "Don't you walk away from me Shane McMahon until you explain that comment."  
  
"Hunter nearly raped Stephanie," Shane said.  
  
"Why didn't she just put that in the divorce proceedings?" Lita asked. "She probably could have gotten more money out of him."  
  
"It happened after they were divorced," Shane said. "And she didn't press charges because Jericho nearly ripped Hunter a new head when he finally got there to stop him from…"  
  
"Oh my God," Lita said, bringing her hand to cover her mouth.  
  
"But, on a happier note," Shane said. "That's what made their marriage real."  
  
"You knew?" Lita asked.  
  
"Stephanie confided in me," Shane said. "We were always close. It's nice to have that back. I love my little sister. I won't do anything to hurt her."  
  
"And I won't let her hurt Jericho," Lita said.  
  
"Does Jericho like children?" Shane asked.  
  
"Yeah," Lita said, seeming a little confused.  
  
"Then everything will be fine," Shane said.  
  
"Are you saying Stephanie's pregnant?" Lita asked.  
  
"Hey, I didn't say anything," Shane said.  
  
"He's going to be a dad?" Lita asked, a dreamy smile crossing her face.  
  
Shane couldn't help but smile. "Yeah."  
  
"That's good news," Lita nodded. "Even if it does mean that Stephanie will always be a part of his life no matter what."  
  
"Don't tell anyone," Shane said. "She wants to tell him."  
  
"Yeah, of course," Lita said. "Thanks Shane."  
  
"For what?" Shane asked.  
  
"Easing my mind," Lita said.  
  
"No problem," Shane said. 


	19. High and Dry

*** This chapter is going to be pretty different, because I'm having a pretty big jump from the last chapter. There's no specified order or anything to this…which means a lot of jumping back and forth. If the continuity screws you up…sorry! The song I use is "High and Dry" by Radiohead. ***  
  
// Two jumps in a week, I bet you think that's pretty clever don't you boy. //  
  
He had thought his life couldn't get any better. He had honestly believed he was on top of the world. But that had all come to a crashing halt. He had thought she would eventually admit that she was in love with him. He had been fool enough to think she was in love with him.  
  
That was his mistake. He wouldn't make anymore. He wouldn't let her take his heart and twist it into knots because she knew she could. He wouldn't worry about her more than he had to. He would simply cohabitate with her until…  
  
Until the baby was born. He breathed a sigh of relief that the baby had managed to survive. He wouldn't have been able to detach himself from the situation if she had lost the baby. He would have had to make sure she was okay. He would have continued to be the model husband.  
  
"Damn you Stephanie," Jericho muttered to himself, looking at the open hospital room door. He could almost hear it beckoning him. "Damn you to hell."  
  
// Flying on your motorcycle, watching all the ground beneath you drop. //  
  
"You know, I really feel like room service tonight," Stephanie said happily, looking over at Jericho. He had successfully defended his title and they were on their way back to the hotel.  
  
"Room service?" Jericho asked. "No French food or anything?"  
  
Stephanie wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Yuck. No, I want pizza."  
  
"We'll see what we can do," Jericho said, stopping his car at a red light.  
  
"And we can talk after dinner," Stephanie said, reaching her hand over to intertwine her fingers with his. "I have something I want to tell you about."  
  
"Sounds serious," Jericho said, curling his fingers with Stephanie's.  
  
"It is," Stephanie said. "But it's good."  
  
"Okay," Jericho nodded. He hit the gas when the light turned green.  
  
Neither of them saw the car run the red light, they were too wrapped up in each other. Stephanie screamed at the moment of impact and then felt her world go black.  
  
// You'd kill yourself for recognition, kill yourself to never ever stop. //  
  
"Mr. Jericho?" a balding man in a white labcoat asked.  
  
"Yeah," Jericho said, standing up and walking to the doctor. "How's my wife?"  
  
"She's going to be okay," the doctor said. "She had a minor head trauma. She's lucky the baby survived."  
  
"Baby?" Jericho asked in shock.  
  
"You didn't know?" the doctor asked. "It's possible she hadn't realized it yet. I think it's about six weeks along."  
  
"That's probably it," Jericho said. "And the baby is okay?"  
  
"Yes, perfectly fine," the doctor assured him.  
  
"Can I see my wife?" Jericho asked.  
  
"Of course," the doctor said.  
  
"Thanks," Jericho said, walking toward the room.  
  
// You broke another mirror, you're turning into something you are not. //  
  
Stephanie woke up and looked over toward the chair that she knew Chris would be sitting in, watching over her. But he wasn't there. She had been in the hospital for nearly twelve hours and he hadn't been in to see her once.  
  
She felt tears sting her eyes. She held her hand over her abdomen and thanked God that the baby hadn't been taken from her. But maybe the baby was the reason Jericho hadn't come to see her. Maybe Chris had found out about the baby and he didn't want one. Maybe she had been wrong to believe he could actually love her.  
  
Tears filled her eyes and made her vision blurry.  
  
"Steph?" a groggy voice asked. She turned on her side, hoping against hope.  
  
She looked at her companion and smiled softly. "Hi Shane."  
  
"You okay baby girl?" he asked, his brown eyes soft with compassion.  
  
"No," she answered, finally letting the tears stream down her face.  
  
// Don't leave me high, don't leave me dry //  
  
She was having a baby. He had never felt so happy in his entire life. But why hadn't she told him? Why hadn't she told him about something so important and lifechanging?  
  
The doctor had said there was a chance that she didn't know yet. Or maybe she had just found out and she wanted to tell him later. Like after they had made love and they were just about to fall asleep.  
  
A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. He looked furtively over at Vince, who was sitting uncomfortably in one of the plastic chairs.  
  
Vince as a grandfather. It was something he could hardly wait to see. It would probably injure his vanity.  
  
"Chris!" Lita called. He turned to see her and Shane rushing down the hall.  
  
"Hey," Chris said as he enveloped Lita in a hug and nodded to Shane.  
  
"How are they?" Shane asked.  
  
// Don't leave me high, don't leave me dry //  
  
"Where's Chris?" Stephanie asked, holding tightly to Shane while she cried.  
  
"He's sleeping out on the waiting room chairs," Shane said. "He won't come in to talk to you."  
  
"Why not?" Stephanie asked. "Did he find out about the baby?"  
  
"Yeah," Shane said, shifting uncomfortably from foot-to-foot.  
  
"What?" Stephanie asked. "Does he not want the baby?"  
  
"It's not that," Shane said, looking away from the inquisitive eyes of his younger sister.  
  
"What is it?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"He found out that we knew and he's mad at you for not telling him sooner," Shane said quickly.  
  
"Oh my God," Stephanie whispered.  
  
"What?" Shane asked.  
  
"He probably thought I didn't want the baby," Stephanie said.  
  
// Drying up in conversation, you will be the one you cannot talk. //  
  
Stephanie walked out to the car. Jericho had stayed around to drive her home. Her home. She doubted he would even stay with her anymore. He hadn't said a word to her since before the accident. It hurt her to be silent around him.  
  
She looked out of the window as Jericho drove. Her eyes blurred with tears. She knew it was her own fault for not telling him sooner. She had waited over a week to tell him. He had so much justification for being hurt. He probably felt like she didn't trust him, that she didn't trust his love.  
  
"Jericho," Stephanie whispered, hoping he couldn't tell that she had been crying.  
  
"Yeah?" he asked, staring straight forward. His fingers were white from gripping the steering wheel so tightly.  
  
"Nothing," Stephanie said, turning back to look out of the window again.  
  
// All your insides fall to pieces, you just sit there wishing you could still make love //  
  
"I'm going to sleep," Jericho said, after he set Stephanie's luggage on the floor of her room.  
  
"Can we talk?" Stephanie asked, laying a hand on Jericho's forearm. He looked down pointedly at her hand and she instantly removed it.  
  
"I'm tired," Jericho said.  
  
"We have to talk Chris!" Stephanie exclaimed. "You're going to let this eat you up!"  
  
"You're probably right," Chris said. "I will probably think about this so hard that I will eventually hate you for not telling me that you were having my baby."  
  
"You can't hate me," Stephanie said. "You love me."  
  
"Do you think that allows you free reign over everything in our lives?" Chris asked.  
  
"I was confused Chris," Stephanie said. "I've never been pregnant before."  
  
"You still should have come to me," Chris said. "You should have gotten my input."  
  
"I know," Stephanie said, hanging her head.  
  
"I just have one question," Chris said. "Would you have gotten an abortion and never have told me about the baby?"  
  
// They're the ones who'll hate you when you think you've got the world all sussed out //  
  
"This is perfect," Stephanie cooed over the cradle that Shane had brought over to her house. "Thanks Shane."  
  
"Sure," Shane said. "Lita helped me pick it out."  
  
"You two sure do hang out a lot anymore," Stephanie said, setting a hand over her gently swollen stomach. She was about four months pregnant and showing just a bit.  
  
"We have family in common," Shane shrugged. "She's devoted to Matt."  
  
"Until he's better," Stephanie said. "Then she won't feel so bad about moving on."  
  
"How would you know?" Shane asked.  
  
"I'm a woman," Stephanie said.  
  
"How about you and Chris?" Shane asked. "Any headway?"  
  
"None," Stephanie said, running a hand along the cradle. "He barely talks to me anymore. It's kind of scary that three months ago I was on the verge of falling in love with him and now he's so cold."  
  
"On the verge?" Shane asked. "Do you think it would hurt this much if you weren't in love with him already?"  
  
// They're the ones who'll spit at you. You will be the one screaming out. //  
  
"You know," Lita said, sitting across the booth from Jericho. "You're just asking for a disaster Jericho."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Chris asked.  
  
"Don't you think you're kid is going to know if you and Stephanie hate each other?" Lita asked. "I mean, you're asking for the kid to grow up hating both of you."  
  
"I don't hate her," Chris sighed.  
  
"I know you don't," Lita said. "But Stephanie doesn't know that. It can't be healthy for a pregnant woman to be so unhappy."  
  
"You can't understand Lita," Chris sighed. "She might have never told me about the baby. Do you know how scary it is to me that she doesn't have enough regard for me to tell me about something as important as a baby immediately?"  
  
"I hate to take Stephanie's side, ever," Lita said. "But the woman was in an emotionally unsound marriage before she married you, she's never been really loved before, and she had no idea how you would react to the idea of having a child. Can you blame her for hesitating?"  
  
"Are you being reasonable about Stephanie?" Jericho asked in shock.  
  
"Hell has frozen over," Lita said.  
  
// Don't leave me high, don't leave me dry //  
  
Stephanie rolled over, reaching out her hand to put it on Jericho's chest. Her eyes opened when she realized he wasn't there. He hadn't been there for nearly three months. She clenched her hand, willing herself not to cry.  
  
She sat up and threw her legs over the side of the bed. She slipped her feet into some slippers and headed down to the kitchen. She made herself a cup of tea and went to the living room to slip in an old movie.  
  
She stopped in the doorway when she saw Jericho was sitting on the couch watching SportsCenter or something. She stood there for a moment, contemplating whether or not to reach out one more time to him. She had tried countless times over the proceeding months, only to be treated with silence.  
  
// Don't leave me high, don't leave me dry //  
  
"Jericho?" she asked quietly.  
  
He didn't move. "Yeah?" he asked, like he knew she was there the whole time.  
  
"Are you okay?" Stephanie asked, cradling the mug in her hands.  
  
"I'm fine," Jericho sighed, turning toward her.  
  
"You want some tea?" Stephanie asked. "There's still some hot water in the kettle."  
  
"No thanks," he said. "What are you doing up?"  
  
"I couldn't sleep," Stephanie said. "You?"  
  
"Same," Jericho said. "You want to watch TV?"  
  
"You go ahead," Stephanie said. "You were here first."  
  
She turned to go back to her bedroom. She was a little encouraged that they had finally had a conversation that didn't end with her crying and him screaming.  
  
// It's the best thing that you've ever had, the best thing that you've ever, ever had. //  
  
Jericho watched Stephanie turn to leave the room. He still felt angry when he looked at her. But Lita was right. He had never given Stephanie a chance to explain. And she may have genuinely confused about the pregnancy.  
  
He turned back to the TV, thinking it was too bad that they could never really get themselves to work. Maybe they just weren't meant to be.  
  
But they were having a baby. If that didn't mean that they were meant to be, what did? Jericho was still wary of letting her back into his heart because he knew she didn't love him and she might use his love against him.  
  
Who the hell was he kidding? She had never been out of his heart. It killed him to stay away from her. All he wanted to do was hug her and tell her that everything would be alright.  
  
He got off the couch and left the TV room.  
  
// It's the best thing that you've ever, the best thing you have ever had has gone away. //  
  
"I meant, did you want to watch TV with me," Jericho said, talking to Stephanie's back as she walked up the stairs.  
  
She stilled and then slowly turned back around.  
  
"Yeah?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"Well, we're going to be parents aren't we?" Jericho asked.  
  
"Yeah," Stephanie said. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before."  
  
"Why didn't you?" Jericho asked.  
  
"I was scared," Stephanie admitted. "I mean, have you seen my family? I was deathly afraid that I would cause any child of mine severe psychological damage."  
  
"You weren't going to abort it?" Jericho asked.  
  
"No, it wasn't an option," Stephanie said, coming a few steps down the staircase. "I was just getting used to the idea of being a mom."  
  
"I could've helped you," Jericho said, taking her hand in his as they walked back to the TV room together.  
  
// Don't leave me high, don't leave me dry //  
  
Stephanie slept better later that night. Her and Jericho were at least talking now. There had been no romance, no caresses. But they had definitely set themselves back on the path of friendship.  
  
"That has to be enough for now," she whispered to herself.  
  
// Don't leave me high, don't leave me dry // 


	20. Past and Present

"Dear God!" Stephanie exclaimed, holding her hand to her stomach.  
  
"What?" Jericho asked, starting from his seat across the room from her.  
  
"Nothing," Stephanie said, smiling dreamily. "The baby moved."  
  
"Really?" Jericho asked, smiling himself as he walked closer to Stephanie. "Can I feel?"  
  
"Of course," Stephanie said, taking his hand in hers and guiding it towards her stomach. "Can you feel it?"  
  
Jericho concentrated all of his energy on his hand, trying to feel his child move. A brilliant smile dawned on his face. "Oh my God. That's amazing."  
  
"I know," Stephanie said softly.  
  
"I can't imagine what it's like to feel it inside of you," Jericho commented, sitting next to Stephanie, leaving his hand on her stomach.  
  
"It's pretty great," Stephanie said.  
  
"What do you want for dinner?" Jericho asked.  
  
"Pepperoni and sausage pizza," Stephanie said quickly.  
  
"Pizza?" Jericho asked. "You seem to eat a lot of that anymore."  
  
"Cravings I guess," Stephanie shrugged.  
  
"Okay," Jericho said.  
  
"I was going to look for stuff for the nursery for tomorrow," Stephanie said. "I wanted to go get some ideas."  
  
"Where are you going to put it?" Jericho asked. "I mean there's only your room, my room, and the office."  
  
"Yeah, I was just going to put my desk in my bedroom and then use the office as the nursery," Stephanie said.  
  
"Your room will be packed then," Jericho said.  
  
"I've got to have an office of some kind though," Stephanie said. "I need my computer and my files to stay on top of work."  
  
"I guess so," Jericho said, thinking for a moment.  
  
"What?" Stephanie asked suspiciously.  
  
"Nothing," Jericho said, shaking his head for a moment. "I was just thinking I take up a lot less room than a desk."  
  
"So?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"I was thinking I could just start sleeping in your room again," Chris said. "And we can use my room as the nursery."  
  
"You sure?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"Would it make you uncomfortable?" Jericho asked.  
  
"Not at all," Stephanie said.  
  
"Okay," Jericho said. "Then, as soon as we start putting the nursery together I'll go ahead and move back in with you."  
  
"Okay," Stephanie smiled. "You sure you want to share a bed with me?"  
  
"I think I'll survive," Jericho grinned.  
  
"Okay," Stephanie said. "Did you want to go look at nursery stuff with me tomorrow?"  
  
"Yeah, sure," Jericho said.  
  
"Who the hell is that?" Jericho asked when the doorbell rung.  
  
"I don't know," Stephanie shrugged.  
  
"I'll get it," Jericho said, getting up from the couch and walking to the front door.  
  
Moments later, Lita rushed into the room with her cousin on her heels. "What happened Lita?"  
  
"I'm so confused," Lita sobbed, tears running down her face.  
  
"What's wrong?" Stephanie asked with concern.  
  
"It's Matt and Shane," Lita said. "Shane and I were talking backstage at RAW and Matt's back. He saw us and he got jealous."  
  
"Boys get jealous," Stephanie said.  
  
"But he was so mean about it," Lita said. "He called me a slut in front of everyone. He knows about my past with Shane."  
  
"He does?" Jericho asked.  
  
"He always knew," Lita said.  
  
"And he still made a play for you?" Stephanie asked in disgust. "I mean you were still seeing my brother when Matt kissed you right?"  
  
"Yeah," Lita said miserably.  
  
"That's kind of crappy," Stephanie said.  
  
"But he thought I wasn't happy," Lita said. "He thought he could make me happy."  
  
"Were you? Did he?" Stephanie asked, leaning forward, trying to help Lita think out her problem.  
  
"I don't know," Lita said. "I mean with Shane, everything was great but I always felt like we didn't quite fit together. He's so polished and suave. I'm just a tomboy. And Matt…he's like me. He knows how I work."  
  
"Did you ever tell any of this to Shane?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"Any of what?" Lita asked.  
  
"That you thought you guys weren't from the same world," Stephanie said.  
  
"No," Lita said. "He wouldn't talk to me for the longest time after we broke up. I never really got a chance to explain anything to him."  
  
"You know, if Shane was with you then I'm sure he thought you guys were worth it," Stephanie said. "I mean, I don't know how he feels now, but I would bet that he still cares for you."  
  
"But what about Matt?" Lita asked.  
  
"Do you love him?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"I don't know," Lita said. "I really care about him."  
  
"I'm sure you do," Stephanie said. "But that's not love. I don't really know what love is, but I know it's not just caring."  
  
"This is surreal," Lita said, laughing. "Stephanie McMahon is giving me relationship advice."  
  
"Stephanie McMahon-Jericho," she said, smiling over at Chris.  
  
"Right," Lita said. "It's good to see you two talking again."  
  
"It's good to be talking again," Chris said.  
  
"So is everything peachy with you guys?" Lita asked.  
  
"Peachy?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"That's really none of your business," Jericho said.  
  
"Aw, c'mon Chris," Lita pleaded.  
  
"No," Chris said.  
  
"You suck," Lita said.  
  
"We're working on it," Stephanie suddenly said. "Will that satisfy you?"  
  
"For now," Lita said.  
  
"I think you should talk to Shane," Stephanie said. "He'll probably come here if you call him."  
  
"It's okay," Lita said.  
  
"Do it," Chris said.  
  
"Jeez," Lita muttered. "Can't ever let me have a dysfunctional relationship can you?"  
  
"I think the problem is that you've had one for too long," Jericho said.  
  
"That's just the pot calling the kettle black," Lita said, standing up. "Can I use your office phone Stephanie?"  
  
"Go ahead," Stephanie said.  
  
Stephanie and Chris watched Lita walk toward the office. "You were great with her," Chris commented.  
  
"She just needed a little direction," Stephanie shrugged.  
  
"Toward your brother?" Jericho asked, grinning.  
  
"Hey, she could do worse," Stephanie said. "He's one of the greatest guys I've ever known."  
  
"And what other great guys have you know?" Jericho asked.  
  
"You," Stephanie said.  
  
"Thanks," Jericho said. "You know, Lita was right about something though."  
  
"What?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"We're in a dysfunctional relationship," Chris said.  
  
"No kidding," Stephanie laughed. "We can't decide if we want to yell at each other or actually be friends."  
  
"Or more," Jericho said.  
  
"Or more," Stephanie nodded.  
  
"I think we need to figure it all out before the baby comes," Jericho said. "I don't want us to keep tip-toeing around each other and never figure out what we mean to each other."  
  
"I really care about you Chris," Stephanie said. "I don't know how much. I just know that being apart from you really sucks."  
  
"I love you," Chris said. "I've been in love with you for so long Stephanie."  
  
"Chris," Stephanie whispered.  
  
"No, Steph, listen," Chris said. "I'll probably always love you. But I need you to love me too if we are going to work out. I can wait. I can even wait a long time."  
  
"How long?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"I don't know," Chris said. "So try not to take your time about deciding."  
  
"That's a lot of stress right there," Stephanie said. "You're putting the whole weight of our relationship on me."  
  
"That's right," Chris said. "I've put myself out there for you Steph. I swallowed the hurt I felt over you. I'm even willing to trust you again Stephanie. But I need something from you."  
  
"I understand," Stephanie nodded. "But I have to think about…everything."  
  
"Okay," Chris said. "I hope we both get what we want." 


	21. And Soon

*** I'm SO sorry this chapter has taken so long. I was feeling uninspired. This story has completely changed from it's original intended storyline and I'm kind of just going with the flow. But it wasn't flowing. I'll try to work faster from now on, but no promises. ***  
  
*  
  
"Hi," she said softly.  
  
"Hi," he returned, sitting in the chair across the table from her. He knew the look in her pretty eyes well. He knew he didn't want to hear what she was going to say.  
  
"We have to talk," she said, looking down at her hands. They were on top of the table, folded together.  
  
"I know," he said, nodding his head in agreement.  
  
"I don't think it's going to work," she said.  
  
"But I love you," he exclaimed. "I've loved you forever."  
  
"Have you really?" she asked. "Or did you just want it to be love."  
  
"I…what are you talking about?" he asked.  
  
"For so long I just wanted to be in love with you," she said. "Because when I looked at you I could see all of the affection in your eyes. But I can't pretend anymore."  
  
"Pretend?" he asked, feeling his heart fall to pieces.  
  
"I don't love you," she said firmly. "I'm not really sure that I ever did."  
  
"What are you talking about?" he asked, his face so crestfallen that it nearly broke her heart. "We're so perfect for each other."  
  
"It would seem that way to someone from the outside looking in," she said, nodding her head. "But we aren't really."  
  
"It's your damn cousin and his slut of a wife," he said in disgust.  
  
"Excuse me?" Lita asked, her eyes filling with anger.  
  
"Ever since those two decided to fall in love you've gone all romantic and you've forgotten about the real world," Matt said.  
  
"Which real world is this?" Lita asked.  
  
"The one where you and I work," he said, his voice becoming gentler.  
  
"Is this the same real world where you kissed me and helped to tear me out of a relationship I was really quite happy in?" Lita asked.  
  
"So it all comes back to Shane?" Matt sighed.  
  
"Yeah," Lita said, nodding her head. "It does all come back to Shane."  
  
"Why?" Matt asked.  
  
"Because I knew that I loved him," Lita said. "I know that what I had with Shane was real, that he didn't just try to convince me that we would work."  
  
"I didn't just convince you," Matt protested.  
  
"No, but I let myself believe what you believed," Lita said. "I never stopped to think about what I really believed. That's my fault Matt."  
  
"Why did you leave Shane if you were so sure you loved him?" Matt asked.  
  
"For the same reason I convinced myself that I should love you," Lita said. "Because Shane and I didn't make sense in the so-called real world and you and I did."  
  
"And did Shane help you come to this realization?" Matt asked.  
  
"Shane doesn't know I've come to this realization," Lita replied. "I did call him, I explained to him why I chose you and not him. Everything else I left out."  
  
"Lita," Matt said softly. "I know things have been rough."  
  
"Matt," Lita sighed. "This has been a long time coming. We aren't happy together anymore. For awhile it was fun because we were friends and lovers. Now we never talk and we are rarely together. And I don't miss it."  
  
"You're really serious?" Matt asked.  
  
"I really am," Lita said, nodding her head.  
  
"Are you going back to Shane?" Matt asked.  
  
"If he'll take me back," Lita said honestly.  
  
*  
  
"Shaners," Stephanie said, hugging her brother as he walked into her home.  
  
"Don't you look beautiful?" Shane asked.  
  
"I look fat," Stephanie said, matter-of-factly.  
  
"You look gorgeous," Shane assured her. "And what are those marvelous smells?"  
  
"Just a little bit of homemade food," Stephanie said, taking Shane with her into the kitchen.  
  
Shane laughed as Chris looked dubiously at a soufflé in front of him. "You sure it won't fall Stephanie?"  
  
"Did you make it?" Shane asked.  
  
"No," Chris said. "My kitchen skills amount to coffee, hot chocolate, and grilled cheese."  
  
"Steph?" Shane asked.  
  
"You know I'm a goddess in the kitchen," Stephanie said airily, "but I do not have the patience to make that."  
  
"Out of my way," Lita exclaimed as she ran to the oven to take out a pan containing four Cornish game hens.  
  
"Lita?" Shane asked in shock.  
  
Lita looked up from the pan she held in her hands and grinned at Shane. "Hey."  
  
"You cooked all of this?" Shane asked.  
  
"It's a thank you to Stephanie and Chris for helping me work out my life and giving me a couch to crash on," Lita said.  
  
"Life? Couch?" Shane asked.  
  
"It'll all become clear later," Chris assured him. "Why don't we just enjoy the food for now?"  
  
Shane nodded mutely as Stephanie and Jericho steered him towards the dining room.  
  
*  
  
"So, I broke up with Matt," Lita said as she sat on the patio next to Shane.  
  
"Really?" Shane asked. They had talked a little over a week earlier. Lita had explained to him why she had broken up with him, but she had given no indication to him that her relationship with Matt was nearly over.  
  
"Yeah," Lita said. "I just didn't love him."  
  
"Poor guy," Shane said. "I know what it feels like to wake up and realize you aren't loved."  
  
"But I always loved you Shane," Lita said softly.  
  
"What?" Shane asked, whipping his head toward her.  
  
"I was an idiot to think that just because we came from different planets, hell different solar systems," Lita said. "That it meant I shouldn't love you. I was an idiot."  
  
"But…why?" Shane asked.  
  
"Why what?" Lita asked.  
  
"Why now?" Shane asked.  
  
"Because I can't pretend anymore that I don't love you," Lita said.  
  
"God Lita," Shane sighed, running a hair through his short hair. "This is a lot to dump on me."  
  
"I know," Lita said sympathetically. "And I wish there was another way."  
  
"No, it's okay," Shane said.  
  
"And I'm willing to give you time and space before you have to make any kind of decision," Lita said. "I don't want to pressure you."  
  
"Pressure me to what?" Shane asked.  
  
"To love me again," Lita said.  
  
"Lita, I've always loved you," Shane said softly. "Love hasn't been the problem."  
  
"What's been the problem?" Lita asked.  
  
"It would be really hard to entrust my heart to you again," Shane said. "I would never know when you would decide we were too different again."  
  
"Wouldn't happen," Lita said.  
  
"How can I be sure?" Shane asked.  
  
"Because I believe in promises," Lita said, getting off of the chair she was sitting in and kneeling in front of Shane's chair. "I need you to bear with me here, I'm new to this going after what you really want. It's really hard to take pages out of Chris' book."  
  
"What are you doing?" Shane asked.  
  
"If you'll have me," Lita said, taking a deep breath. "I would like for you to be my husband?"  
  
"Husband?" Shane asked in shock.  
  
"Yeah," Lita said. "I want to show the world that regardless of what they think, I believe you and I belong together."  
  
"But marriage?" Shane asked. "We haven't been together in forever."  
  
"Do you think we wouldn't still work together?" Lita asked.  
  
"No, it's just…what about Matt?" Shane asked.  
  
"Matt knows how I feel," Lita said. "He'll be shocked. But he'll fall in love someday."  
  
"I don't know what to say," Shane said. "You said you weren't going to pressure me."  
  
"But you said you still loved me," Lita said. "And all is still fair in love and war."  
  
"And is this love or war?" Shane asked, laughter in his eyes.  
  
"You tell me," Lita said.  
  
Shane closed his eyes for a moment. He opened them and leaned forward and captured Lita's mouth with his. He had only intended to kiss her softly, but he almost instantly pulled her into his arms. Their tongues tangled in a fiery combat.  
  
"God Shane," Lita said breathlessly when they pulled apart. "I love you so much."  
  
"I love you too," Shane said.  
  
"Is that a yes?" Lita asked.  
  
"It's a yes," Shane said, smiling down at the woman in his arms.  
  
*  
  
"Yes!" Stephanie exclaimed from the kitchen sink.  
  
"What?" Chris asked, looking up from the newspaper laid out in front of him.  
  
"Nothing," Stephanie said innocently, rinsing out a glass.  
  
"Were you spying on them again?" Chris asked.  
  
"They were kissing Chris!" Stephanie exclaimed. "It's so magical and romantic!"  
  
"Steph," Chris said affectionately. "Let them have their moment."  
  
"I will, but I'm so happy for them," Stephanie said.  
  
"I am too," Chris said. "I'm happy for everyone who finds love."  
  
Stephanie smiled at her husband. She hoped she would find love with him. And soon. 


	22. Destiny

*** Hey all…another song-fic chapter. I'm addicted to them. I use "Destiny" by Zero 7 in this one. Enjoy. ***  
  
// I lie awake  
  
I've gone to ground //  
  
Stephanie laid in her bed, not moving at all. If she moved, she might touch Chris. And if she touched Chris once, she might not be able to keep herself from touching him. She tilted her head slightly to see his form, outlined in the moonlight.  
  
Part of her wanted to reach out and caress his face, tell him what he wanted to hear. But she couldn't lie to him. She cared for him enough to know that she couldn't toy with his feelings so she could get what she wanted.  
  
She turned her head the other way and concentrated on the door of her bedroom. She had to find a way to go to sleep. The longer she stayed awake lying next to Chris, the higher the likelihood that she would go ahead and give in to herself.  
  
// I'm watching porn  
  
In my hotel dressing gown  
  
Now I dream of you //  
  
She remembered the feel of his kisses and the heat inside of him. She had always thought she and Hunter had been fairly passionate. But nothing had been more exciting than Chris. Even a simple touch on her hand could make her heart beat faster.  
  
It took everything in her being not to give in to her desires and just touch him. She cared about him and she wasn't going to jeopardize any chance they might have. But when she dreamed about him, she could almost convince herself it would be worth the risk, just to touch him again.  
  
// But I still believe  
  
There's only enough for one in this  
  
Lonely hotel suite //  
  
Stephanie sat at her desk, going over financial reports. Things were going well for the WWF. It was nice to know everything in one part of her life was running smoothly. Well, there was another part that was on track too.  
  
She rubbed her hand over her belly, thinking about the child that would soon be born. She got up and walked to the nursery she and Chris had decorated. She could hardly wait for the baby to be in the room.  
  
She turned at the sound of the doorbell. She had no idea who it could be. She hated being alone when Chris was on the road, but it was better for the baby if she didn't travel. She sighed and began to walk to the front door.  
  
// The journey's long  
  
And it feels so bad  
  
I'm thinking back to the last day we had. //  
  
"Shane!" Stephanie exclaimed, throwing her arms around Shane's neck. "What are you doing here? Where's Lita?"  
  
"She's packing stuff at her house so we can move in together," Shane said. "I decided to come see you."  
  
"That's so sweet," Stephanie said.  
  
"Actually, there are ulterior motives," Shane said. "Lita and I are worried about you."  
  
"Me?" Stephanie asked. "I'm perfectly fine. I have a baby on the way and Chris and I are on speaking terms. Actually, we're friends again."  
  
"But you aren't together," Shane said. "And I want to know why."  
  
// Old moon fades into the new  
  
Soon I know I'll be back with you //  
  
"He loves me Shane," Stephanie sighed as she sat on the couch in the living room. "Outside of the family, no one has ever really loved me."  
  
"I don't understand the problem," Shane said.  
  
"He wants me to love him back," Stephanie said. "And I do love him, but not like he wants me to love him."  
  
"What are you talking about Stephanie?" Shane asked. "You two are perfect together."  
  
"We're great friends and he is attractive," Stephanie said. "But I don't have that wild frenzy that I know has to come with love."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Shane asked again.  
  
"Love is supposed to be so overpowering and heart wrenching," Stephanie replied.  
  
"No, no it's not," Shane said with certainty.  
  
// I'm nearly with you  
  
I'm nearly with you //  
  
"SmackDown is on," Stephanie said. "We'll talk about this afterwards, okay?"  
  
"Fine by me," Shane shrugged, turning back towards the TV.  
  
After about 30 minutes, they showed Jericho wrapping his wrists in the hallway. Shane looked over to see a sweet smile on Stephanie's face. Her smile faded just a bit when Torrie Wilson walked up to Jericho with a sexy smile on her face.  
  
"Hey Chris," Torrie said seductively.  
  
"Uh, hey Torrie," Jericho said, backing up a little when Torrie got a little too close.  
  
"So you're defending the belt tonight?" Torrie asked, pulling a little closer to Jericho.  
  
Jericho again moved away. "Yeah."  
  
"What do you say you and I go celebrate afterwards?" Torrie asked.  
  
"I have a wife," Jericho said, pulling away in disgust.  
  
"Come on, we both know she's not really pregnant," Torrie said. "You probably just had her stay at home because you were sick of her."  
  
// When I'm weak I draw strength from you  
  
And when you're lost I know how to change your mood  
  
And when I'm down you breathe life over me //  
  
"That bitch!" Stephanie exclaimed when she jumped off of the couch.  
  
"Calm down Steph," Shane said, making Stephanie sit down again.  
  
"She came on to my husband!" Stephanie exclaimed. "She said that he was sick of me!"  
  
"He denied it sweetie," Shane said.  
  
"What makes her think that just because I'm away she can come on to him?" Stephanie asked, pulling a hand through her hair.  
  
"Why do you care so much?" Shane asked. "It's not like you love him."  
  
Stephanie looked over at Shane and her blue eyes narrowed. "What are you saying Shane McMahon?"  
  
"I'm saying you wouldn't care so much if you didn't love him," Shane shrugged.  
  
// Even though we're miles apart we are each other's destiny  
  
On a clear day  
  
I'll fly home to you //  
  
Stephanie opened her mouth to protest. But then she remembered the red-hot rage that had coursed through her body when Torrie approached Jericho. When Trish had put the moves on Hunter, she had been perturbed, but not so pissed off that she could barely see.  
  
"You're right," Stephanie said nodding. "I'm so stupid."  
  
"Not stupid," Shane said, stroking his hand up and down her back. "It's not the fairy tale you expected when you were growing up."  
  
"No," Stephanie said, standing up. "It's so much better."  
  
"Better?" Shane asked, standing up with her.  
  
"He loves me back," Stephanie said. "He's a great guy who really loves me."  
  
// I'm bending time getting back to you  
  
Old moon fades into the new  
  
Soon I know I'll be back with you //  
  
"What are you doing?" Shane asked.  
  
"I'm packing," Stephanie said, throwing things into her bag. "Do you think this is something I can tell him over the phone?"  
  
"It can wait until he gets back," Shane said.  
  
"It's waited too long already," Stephanie said. "It's been here since…who knows how long? At least since I realized I was pregnant."  
  
"I'm glad to see you've come to your senses," Shane said.  
  
"So are you giving me a ride to the airport?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"I guess so," Shane said, nodding his head.  
  
// I'm nearly with you  
  
I'm nearly with you //  
  
Stephanie tapped her hand impatiently on the arm of the chair of her seat in the plane. She leafed through a magazine with the other hand.  
  
The man in the seat next to her looked pointedly at her hand. She stilled it and smiled apologetically. "Sorry," she said. "I'm just a little anxious."  
  
"It's okay," he said.  
  
"I'm going to go see my husband," Stephanie explained.  
  
"Is he a soldier or something?" the man asked.  
  
"No," Stephanie said. "But he travels a lot. I miss him."  
  
"That's sweet," the man said. "My wife and I have been married for about thirty years. I hate to be away from her myself."  
  
"I hope my husband and I can be like that in thirty years," Stephanie said.  
  
// When I'm weak I draw strength from you  
  
And when you're lost I know how to change your mood  
  
And when I'm down you breathe life over me //  
  
"Taxi!" Stephanie exclaimed, waving her arm about frantically.  
  
Finally a taxi stopped and she climbed in with her duffel bag at her side. "The Hilton please."  
  
Stephanie watched the buildings fly by as the taxi moved quickly to her final destination. She knew the taxi driver was going as fast as he could, but it didn't seem nearly fast enough. Nothing seemed fast enough.  
  
They finally got to the hotel and Stephanie tipped her driver generously. She alighted from the cab and walked quickly through the hotel lobby to the elevators. She walked down the hall of Chris' floor, looking for his room. She took a deep breath before knocking on his door.  
  
// Even though we're miles apart we are each other's destiny //  
  
"Steph," Jericho said in shock when he opened the door. He was towel- drying his hair.  
  
"Am I interrupting anything?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"Not at all," Chris said, opening the door wider so she could pass into the room. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Can't a woman visit her husband every now and then?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"Well yeah," Chris said. "But it's different when the woman is eight months pregnant."  
  
"This couldn't wait," Stephanie said.  
  
"What couldn't?" Chris asked, feeling very confused.  
  
// When I'm weak I draw strength from you  
  
And when you're lost I know how to change your mood  
  
And when I'm down you breathe life over me //  
  
"I have something I have to tell you," Stephanie said. "And it has to do with us and our future."  
  
"Okay," Chris said, sitting down on the bed. Stephanie sat down next to him.  
  
"I've been so stupid," Stephanie said, taking Chris' hand in hers. "I thought that I would come to love you over time."  
  
"Oh," Chris said, feeling a little crestfallen. "So it's not going to happen?"  
  
"No. it's not going to happen," Stephanie said.  
  
"Well, okay I guess," Chris said, dropping Stephanie's hand.  
  
// Even though we're miles apart we are each other's destiny //  
  
"It's not going to happen because it already ahs happened," Stephanie said, retaining her grip on Chris' hand.  
  
"What?" Chris asked.  
  
"I love you Chris," Stephanie said, looking into his blues eyes. "I've loved you for awhile. I was just to stupid to realize it was love."  
  
"What did you think it was?" Chris asked.  
  
"Attraction I guess," Stephanie answered. "Not love."  
  
"What changed?" Chris asked.  
  
"My point of view," Stephanie answered, before she leaned in to kiss her husband.  
  
// I'll fly, I'll fly home  
  
I'll fly home and I'll fly home // 


	23. Welcome to the World

"So the plan worked," Shane said he walked into his living room.  
  
"Plan?" Lita asked, looking up from the magazine she was flipping through.  
  
"You know…Torrie hitting on Chris?" Shane asked. "Make Stephanie jealous and realize that she is in love with Jericho?"  
  
"Oh yeah," Lita said, smiling as Shane sat next to her on the couch. She let him gently pull her next to him. "That plan."  
  
"The look on her face was priceless," Shane said. "And she was on the first flight out to tell her husband that she loved him."  
  
"I'm glad your plan worked dear," Lita said.  
  
"Me too," Shane said. "I figured I owed them a favor because I probably wouldn't have you sitting next to me now if it weren't for them."  
  
"You're probably right," Lita said. She tilted her head towards his and he kissed the tip of her nose. "Probably right."  
  
"So now they have a baby on the way and we're going to be married," Shane said, sighing contentedly.  
  
"It's a wonderful life," Lita said. "I never thought I would say it, but your sister seems to be good for my cousin. I almost like her."  
  
"Well, your cousin seems pretty good for my sister too," Shane said.  
  
"And Jericho is perfectly likeable," Lita said happily.  
  
"Or usually egotistical," Shane said.  
  
"That's not nice," Lita said.  
  
"I'm just kidding gorgeous," Shane said, pressing his lips to hers.  
  
"You better be," Lita said. "I fiercely protect my own."  
  
"I'm glad I get to be one of your own soon," Shane said.  
  
"Me too," Lita said.  
  
*  
  
"Here's to my future grandson," Vince said, lifting his glass of apple cider up. He was eating brunch with Stephanie, Chris, Linda, Shane, and Lita. "And to my future daughter-in-law."  
  
"Here, here," Shane seconded.  
  
"It's nice to have the family together," Linda said.  
  
"I just wonder if Dad will be disappointed if my baby is a girl," Stephanie said, rubbing her hand gently over her inflated abdomen.  
  
"If she's like you," Vince said. "I would have no reason to be disappointed."  
  
"Thanks Daddy," Stephanie said, ducking her head to hide her blush.  
  
"But I do want the baby to be named after me," Vince said.  
  
Everyone at the table looked up in disbelief at Vince until he grinned at them all. "Just kidding."  
  
"Chris' parents will be here in a couple days," Stephanie said. "They want to be here when the baby is born if they can be."  
  
"It's still two weeks away," Shane said.  
  
"You were three weeks early," Linda said to Shane.  
  
"I wish this one was three weeks early," Stephanie said. "It gets a little harder everyday to make it up the stairs."  
  
"Yeah, and my back can't handle carrying her up the stairs," Jericho joked.  
  
"Ha," Stephanie said, making a face at her husband. He grinned at her and leaned over and kissed her gently.  
  
"I kid," he whispered.  
  
"I know," Stephanie said, kissing him again.  
  
"Who would have known you two would make a picture perfect couple?" Vince asked.  
  
"Me," Chris said, grinning up at Vince.  
  
"You always were a cocky bastard," Vince joked.  
  
"Hey, such language around the youngster?" Chris kidded.  
  
"Chris," Stephanie said seriously.  
  
"Yeah baby?" Chris asked, turning towards her.  
  
"It's time," she said, gripping his arm tightly.  
  
"Time?" Chris asked. After a moment, realization hit him and he jumped out of his seat. "It's time!"  
  
"Where's her bag?" Lita asked.  
  
"In her office," Jericho said, looking down in horror at his wife. "It's really time?"  
  
"It's really time," Stephanie said, nodding at him.  
  
Chris leaned down and helped her up from her chair. He leaned over toward the counter and grabbed some keys and threw them to Shane. "Car!"  
  
"Yeah," Shane said, racing outside to start up Chris' SUV.  
  
"Got the back," Lita said.  
  
"Okay," Chris said. "Take it to the car, Shane is starting it."  
  
"You're being so calm," Stephanie marveled as he walked her slowly to the car, Vince and Linda right behind them.  
  
"Gone over this about a thousand times in my mind," Chris said.  
  
"How are we doing so far?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"Apart from the early?" Chris asked. "Pretty good."  
  
"That's good," Stephanie said. Chris helped her into the car and then slid in beside her.  
  
"We'll take my car," Vince said.  
  
"See you there," Shane said to his dad.  
  
"Holy mother of potatoes," Stephanie grunted as a contraction hit her like a ton of bricks.  
  
"You know I'm going to give you hell for that later right?" Jericho asked. "Potatoes?"  
  
"Shut up!" Stephanie exclaimed. She grasped Jericho's arm tightly until the contraction passed.  
  
"You okay?" Chris asked.  
  
"Yeah," Stephanie said.  
  
"Good," Chris said. He leaned over and pressed a kiss against her forehead. "I love you."  
  
"I love you too," Stephanie said, leaning against him.  
  
*  
  
"Doctor, the baby is showing signs of distress!" an attendant exclaimed, looking at the fetal monitor.  
  
"Get an ultrasound in here!" a doctor exclaimed.  
  
"What's going on?" Jericho asked in alarm. He felt Stephanie's hand tightened around his wrist and he looked down to see the worry in her eyes.  
  
"It could be nothing," the doctor said. "We just want to make sure."  
  
"Okay," Jericho said, nodding. He leaned down close to Stephanie and kissed her sweaty brow. "Everything will be okay sweetheart."  
  
"Promise me?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"Of course I promise you," Chris said. "I'd move heaven and earth for you."  
  
"That sounds sappy," Stephanie said, looking up in adoration at her husband.  
  
"It's allowed," Jericho shrugged. "You're having my baby."  
  
"I'm having our baby," Stephanie corrected.  
  
"Right," Jericho said, nodding. "And that makes it even better."  
  
Stephanie smiled, before feeling a contraction again. The fetal monitor started beeping crazily. "What's going on?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"Probably the umbilical cord," the doctor said, quickly setting up the ultrasound equipment. "It might be wrapped around the baby's neck."  
  
The beeping slowed as the contraction ended. The doctor looked at the ultrasound screen. "That is indeed the problem. Normally I would try to unwrap the cord, but you're too far along for that now. I would recommend a C-section."  
  
"C-section?" Stephanie asked. "Isn't it a little late?"  
  
"It's an emergency," the doctor said.  
  
"Well, if it's best for the baby," Stephanie said.  
  
"Okay, lets get you prepped for surgery," the doctor said. He turned to Chris and said, "We need you to sign the release."  
  
"Okay," Chris said, nodding even though he felt very confused.  
  
*  
  
"There she is," Chris said, pointing through the glass to a little baby wrapped in a pink blanket.  
  
"She's gorgeous," Lita said, waving at her little cousin.  
  
"Precious," Shane said.  
  
"Isabella Eva Jericho," Chris said.  
  
"How's Stephanie?" Shane asked.  
  
"Still out," Chris said.  
  
"The surgery went well though?" Shane asked.  
  
"Yeah," Chris said.  
  
"Good," Shane said, turning back to look again at Isabella.  
  
Chris turned back toward Stephanie's room and walked to her room. He stopped in the doorway and watched her sleep peacefully.  
  
"Chris?" Stephanie asked, feeling foggy.  
  
"Hey baby," Chris said, coming to sit on the edge of her bed.  
  
"What happened?" Stephanie asked, smiling up at her husband.  
  
"You had a girl," Jericho said.  
  
"Isabella," Stephanie said, remembering the name she and Chris had decided on for a girl. "Is she okay?"  
  
"She's perfect," Chris said. "But could there be any doubt? She is our child."  
  
"Can I see her?" Stephanie asked.  
  
"Let me go talk to the nurse," Chris said.  
  
Moments later, Chris walked into the room accompanied by a nurse pushing the cart that held Isabella Eva Jericho. Chris gently placed the baby in Stephanie's arms.  
  
"Welcome to the world sweetheart," Stephanie said to her daughter. Chris settled on the edge of the bed again and watched dutifully over his wife and child.  
  
"I never believed in perfect until this moment," Stephanie said to Chris.  
  
"That will end," Jericho said. "But for now, I agree. Nothing could change this moment."  
  
Stephanie smiled up at Chris. "I'm so lucky you showed up on my doorstep."  
  
"I'm lucky I had the guts to propose," Chris said.  
  
"Who knew it would change everything completely?"  
  
THE END  
  
*** I know, my endings tend to be lame. I like to tie everything up with nice little bows. But hey, at least I didn't just stop reading the story. Hope you liked it. The feedback for this story has been amazing and I just wanted to thank all of you who have stuck with it. I really hope you liked this chapter despite the corniness. *** 


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